The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorbo
Six centuries of faith, art and hospitality in Veio Regional Park
Perched on a rocky outcrop in the Sorbo Valley, on the border between Campagnano di Roma and Formello, the Sanctuary is one of the most evocative stops along the Via Francigena, around 20 km from Rome. Tradition holds that here, in the early fifteenth century, a young shepherd who could not use one hand followed a sow to a rowan tree, where the Virgin Mary appeared to him. She restored the use of his hand and asked him to build a sanctuary in her honour on that site.
The “castrum Sorbi”
The story of the Sanctuary’s founding is intertwined with the documented history of the site. Already mentioned as castrum Sorbi in a charter dating from 996, over the centuries it came under the control of the Orsini family, lords of Campagnano and Formello. In 1427, Pope Martin V granted the Carmelite friars permission to build a monastery beside the existing church. This marked the birth of the Sanctuary, which took on the form still visible today in 1487, as recorded by the date carved into the lintel above the entrance portal.
A place of art and faith
The interior of the Sanctuary has three naves, with tuff columns and an exposed timber-truss roof. The altar, built in 1682 to a design by Carlo Fontana, once housed the medieval icon of the Madonna and Child, now preserved in the Parish Museum of Campagnano. The apse still retains a fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin, attributed to the Umbrian painter Piermatteo d’Amelia.
A pilgrimage route reborn
After centuries of splendour and a long period of neglect during the twentieth century, in recent decades the Sanctuary has regained its role as a point of reference for pilgrims and travellers. In 2016, during the Jubilee of Mercy, the Sanctuary was designated as a Holy Door along the pilgrimage route. Today, thanks to the efforts of the Municipality of Campagnano di Roma, Veio Regional Park and the Diocese of Civita Castellana, the complex once again welcomes pilgrims and visitors, offering hospitality, refreshment and rest in the same place where, centuries ago, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the young shepherd.