Madonna della Corona
Madonna della Corona Introduction
All right, it's only a tourist and religious attraction, but Madonna della Corona is also an unseparable part of Monte Baldo massif. If you are not mountaineering only with eyes for rocks and panoramas, you should certainly visit also this fascinating place. You can do a short hike up or only a tourist walk, you can devote a few moments to contemplation or simply only admire the great scenery of the big church, perched on a precipituous ledge above abysses. In any case you will not leave without a feeling that you saw one of the biggest attractions of Trentino country.
Madonna della Corona
From the valley of Adige, the massif of Monte Baldo is first rising with steep walls, and only above them the characteristic eastern terrace of Monte Baldo stretches. In those walls, on the altitude of 773 m, already from the year 1000 on, and certainly in the 12th century, there was a hermitage and in 1530 the first church was built there. In 1898 it was rebuilt, but the biggest reconstruction started in 1975. The church was demolished and rebuilt to the dimensions, which can be seen nowadays. The church was consecrated in 1978 and in 1988 also the Pope visited the place.
Once the place was hardly reachable. Only a narrow and exposed passage was leading to the buildings. Nowadays a comfortable road is reaching the church through a tunnel. Madonna della Corona is a famous place of pilgrimage where many objects of sacral arts can be seen.
Getting there
Basically there are two options how to get to the famous place:
1. From
Spiazzi. This is a small village on the plateau above the rock walls. It can be reached by a good road, which ascends on the eastern slopes of Monte Baldo massif. We exit the highway Verona - Brenner in Garda Sud station and drive north on the mountain. After we park in Spiazzi, we take a walk by a promenade road, closed for public traffic. It goes down the hill, soon we find ourselves between the rocks and through a tunnel we reach the church. Some 20 minutes from the village.
2. From the
valley of Adige. The trailhead is in the small village of Brentino, 187 m, southwest of Avio. The old pilgrimage path, actually more a staircase, leads you up by a narrow valley and then over steep slopes to the church. The ascent is very picturesque, to accomplish it, you will need close to 2 hours.
Outside links
On the web there is a lot of tourist information, here is only one link of a
page in English.
And a stunning picture from the web: