The sanctuary of the Madonna delle Lacrime, also known as Santa Maria del Fiume, stands in the centre of Dongo, along the Regina road, beside the Albano stream. It grew around a shrine where, in September 1553, an image of the Madonna and Child is said to have wept, and it keeps frescoes of 1599 and two groups of 17th-century wooden statues.
History
In a small votive shrine among vines and olive trees an image of Mary with the Child was venerated, called the Madonna del Fiume. On 6 September 1553 the face is said to have wept, and the parish priest collected the tears with a chalice; in the following days the chapel was widened to protect the image, and the villagers began to call it the Madonna delle Lacrime. The complex was built between about 1553 and 1609 (Lombardia Beni Culturali). The Franciscan convent, much wanted by the people of Dongo, was begun in 1607 and finished in 1619, late because of appeals from the Benedictines of Domaso; in 1627 the church was consecrated by the Como bishop Lazzaro Carafino, who dedicated it to Maria Nascente (Como e il suo Lago). Wikipedia adds that on 5 April 1614 the sanctuary was entrusted to the Friars Minor.
Under Austrian and then French rule the convent was suppressed, and in 1871, through the interest of the Manzi family, the Franciscans returned; in 1936 the last lands passed to the Friars Minor of Lombardy as a gift from Giuseppina Manzi, the last of the family. On 21 October 1945 the image was crowned by Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster, and in 2017 the administration of the sanctuary passed to the Diocese of Como (Wikipedia).
What to see
A plain gabled facade, preceded by a portico on squat columns, gives access to three portals; beside it is the tower bell tower with double windows and a conical spire. The complex includes the convent with a double cloister, and along the boundary wall a garden with frescoed shrines, including Saint Francis and Brother Masseo and the Greccio crib (Santuari Italiani).
The interior is a single nave with a barrel vault and four side chapels, and at the altar the miraculous image is kept. The presbytery has frescoes of 1599 signed by Giovanni Domenico Caresana, from the Lugano valley. The most precious chapels are those of the Crucifix, with seven statues, and of the Last Supper, with thirteen, wooden works by Brother Diego Giurati of Careri, a Calabrian sculptor brought here in 1649 by Father Daniele Cassonio, a man of Dongo who had risen to the top of the Franciscan Order (Santuari Italiani); Como e il suo Lago also recalls Brother Giovanni da Reggio. The first chapel on the right is dedicated to Saint Francis, with a canvas by Brother Girolamo Cotica of Premana, and the first on the left to Saint Anthony.
Practical information
- The sanctuary is in Dongo, on the via Statale, which follows the line of the Regina road, just after the Albano stream.
- We found no up-to-date official source for opening hours: to visit the sanctuary it is best to ask the Diocese of Como or the parish of Dongo.
Sources
- Lombardia Beni Culturali, Convento Madonna delle Lacrime, Dongo
- Como e il suo Lago, Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime di Dongo
- Santuari Italiani, Madonna delle Lacrime
- Wikipedia, Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime (Dongo) entry.
