Born from an old legend of protection from brigands, the Santuario della Madonna del Ghisallo has been the patron saint of cyclists since 1949 and holds the bicycles of Coppi, Bartali and Merckx.
The small sanctuary stands at 754 metres, right on the Ghisallo pass, in the municipality of Magreglio, along the road linking Bellagio to the Vallassina valley. According to an old legend, the name comes from a Count Ghisallo who, attacked by brigands during a hunting trip at this very spot, turned to the Madonna of an icon he encountered in the woods, crediting her with his escape. The earliest documented evidence dates to July 1623, when the residents of Magreglio obtained permission to celebrate Mass in a chapel they had rebuilt in honour of the Virgin; a legacy for the celebration of Masses followed in 1660, and further work was carried out in 1681. From 1706 onward, the small oratory gradually developed into a pilgrimage site. Inside, a 16th-century painting by an anonymous artist, depicting the Virgin and Child, is still preserved at the centre of this ancient devotion.
The turning point in the sanctuary’s history came in the 20th century: the climb up to Ghisallo, traditionally part of the Giro di Lombardia — the “classic of the falling leaves” that closes the professional road-racing season each autumn — and repeatedly included in the route of the Giro d’Italia as well, made the Madonna increasingly venerated by athletes. On the initiative of Don Ermelindo Viganò, parish priest of Magreglio from 1944 and later the sanctuary’s first rector, Pope Pius XII proclaimed her patron saint of cyclists in 1949, a title later extended to patron saint of international cycling. Since then, generations of champions have donated their most prized possessions to the sanctuary, including the bicycles of Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali and Eddy Merckx.
As the collection of memorabilia grew, the Museo del Ciclismo was inaugurated next to the sanctuary in 2006, ideally continuing its story.