Santuario della Madonna del Palazzo

The Santuario della Madonna del Palazzo is a Renaissance church of central plan, its architecture designed to draw the eye inward and upward. The high altar is enclosed by a balustrade of polychrome marble, the same richly carved, gilded material forming the altar itself. Its walls are frescoed with paradisiacal scenes. Flanking the altar, twin staircases, lined with small ex-voto paintings, lead to the Madonna’s sanctuary behind, enclosed by a dome and protected by a gilded grille. The outer walls here are also covered with marble ex-voto plaques, each inscribed with a name and date.

On the transept, where side altars might be expected, are two doorways, each topped by a small rectangular window and a bean-shaped oculus of mosaic glass depicting saints. Above the central door, a wooden choir loft, carved and gilded with sinuous frames, houses a finely decorated pipe organ; above it, another mosaic oculus shows the Madonna. The broad central dome, on its drum, is painted in blue and gold. A second, elliptical dome crowns the high altar; at its base, four frescoes record miraculous events.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.