Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Frasca

The Sanctuary of S. Maria della Frasca, or Sanctuary of the Graces, is located in Cesano Maderno, in the hamlet of Binzago: in the past it was one body awith the convent of the Humiliated nuns. It was a hermitage of cloistered nuns where community life was made of work, prayer and penance.

The fresco of the church represents the Madonna and was commissioned by the abbess of the convent. Around the year 1081, the convent went to the family Archinto, the Milanese family that produced the famous Philip Archinto, Archbishop of Milan, who was the man of confidence Spanish Emperor Charles V in Italy. In 1581 San Carlo Borromeo visited the church of St. Mary and found it in total disarray, then ordered the restoration of its decorum. The inhabitants of Binzago decided then to restore the cult.

The frescoes inside are of the fifteenth and seventeenth century. In 1930 it was made a major renovation of the building that was consecrated in 1933, in its present state, by Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster of Milan.

The Sanctuary is one of the stops of the Way of St. Augustine.

 

Photo credits Lombardia Beni Culturali