The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montebruno

It was built in 1486 on the right river bank on initiative of the Agostinian frair Battista Poggi in memory of the Virgin’s miraculous apparition to a mute little shepherd in 1478. This boy recovered the gift of speech and told the miracle to others who found a statue of the Virgin on a stump of beech tree, the one tradition quotes being situated on the high altar nowadays. The church, provided with a nave and two side aisles, is Gothic school styled and reveals the late 15th century origin in its ogival arcades, but the redundant decoration in gilt stuccos and the substitution of pillars with columns and the big altar in polichromatic marbles betray the influence of the Baroque style. The façade was reconstructed in neoclassic style in 1897, with pilaster and  tympanum in terracotta tiles.

In the inside there are one ancient wooden Crucifix,  one Ligurian school painting and an ancient confessional all dated 1600 and one Agostino Ratti’s painting from 1750. In the centre of the presbytery there is the niche with the worshipped image, an archaic wooden statue. On the left side one fresco of Giovanni Quinzio (1832-1918) tells the story of the prodigious fact,  origin of the Sanctuary construction .By the choir there are wooden seats from the 17th century and one fresco panel portraing Saint Agostino’s Baptism, attributed to Ottavio Semino (1520-1604).
In the Augustinian convent the refectory has been converted into a chapel, with  the Last Supper fresco on the wall by unknown author from the 16th century (lately somebody has proposed Leonardo Da Vinci might be the author  because of all the similarities with the Last Supper we can admire in Milan), and an episode Saint Agostino’s life on the opposite wall.

The space where the Museum of country culture of the Upper Trebbia Valley is located has been taken from the convent barn  of the Sanctuary.
The Museum is articulated in different sections:
- handicraft of the past
- working cycles in the country
- typical stall of the zone
- kitchen furnished in country style
- tools and an agricultural means of transport
- ancient mill
- photographic exhibition of Sacred furniture in the Trebbia Valley
- exhibition of vestment
The museum is an example of what  culture was in the Trebbia Valley as the values of  "the hard work culture" are disappearing here more than in other regions of the Ligurian hinterland. The same culture which have given the possibility to accumulate experience  over the century such as inventing and anufacturing work tools, transmitting customs and rituality, keeping under control mountain slope and taking care of  woods and  pastures.
The museum is open in:
Winter (October-April) on Saturdays: 9,00/12,00 - 15,00/17,00 – on Sundays: 15,00/17,00
Summer (May-September) on weekdays: 9,00/12,00 - 15,00/18,30 – on Sundays and holydays: 15,00/18,30
For groups and school-childrens booking is highly appreciated, please call :
Comunità Montana Alta Val Trebbia (High Trebbia Valley Mountainous Comunity) - Montebruno GE - Ph. 010 95009 / 010 95029