Located just a few steps from Verona and even closer to Lake Garda, it is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque places dedicated to the Virgin, worthy of a visit at least once in a lifetime. And indeed, perched as it is on the edge of the Adige valley, halfway up the vertical rocky wall at an altitude of 774 m, it is the most daring of the Sanctuaries in Italy. Initially known as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Baldo, it was later called "of the Crown" due to the shape of the rocks that surround it.
The site was originally home to hermits and more precisely to monks who moved there from the Monastery of S. Zeno in Verona. At that time, the site could only be reached by a narrow and dangerous path through the rocks. The beauty and peace of the place began to attract more and more people, so much so that in the 13th century the need was felt to build a small monastery with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Baldo at the site where the sanctuary now stands.
According to a local legend, in 1522 a wooden sculpture of Our Lady of the Crown was miraculously transported here from the island of Rhodes by angels, and the chapel was immediately replaced with the construction of a larger church and a wooden bridge.
In 1625 it became a Sanctuary, and the difficult accessibility of the place kept it virtually intact until the 20th century. In 1899 the current facade was built. Demolition and reconstruction of the Sanctuary were carried out from 1975 to 1978. In July 1982, the Sanctuary was granted the title of "minor basilica" by Pope John Paul II.
Inside the Sanctuary, there is a reproduction of the famous Holy Stairs, located in Rome near the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which according to tradition was the same stairs used by Jesus on the day of his crucifixion.
