page_title: Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia
section_title: The shrine
hierarchical_section_title: Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia / History / The shrine
context_page_description: The Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia is a Roman Catholic place of pilgrimage located on the top of Monte Figogna in the Municipality of Ceranesi, about 20 kilometres from the city of Genoa, in the northwest of Italy.
  It is the most important Marian shrine in Liguria.
  The name “Guardia” in Italian means “watch”, and the shrine is so called because in the Middle Ages Mount Figogna was a strategic observation station for monitoring the movement of armies along the Valpolcevera and of ships on the sea in the approaches to Genoa. From the pavement in front of the shrine, on a clear day, it is possible to look over all the Polcevera valley below, part of the city of Genoa, and the Ligurian Riviera. On a very clear day, mainly in winter, the skyline of the mountains of the French island of Corsica can also be seen.
  The shrine is the destination of pilgrims from Genoa and from and all over Italy. The cult has been spread throughout Italy and far beyond, so that many churches and shrines have been dedicated to Nostra Signora della Guardia.
context_section_description: Due to the increasing flow of pilgrims, a new shrine was built on the top of the mountain between 1528 and 1530, thanks to a donation of the noble Ghersi family. Near the shrine a hospice for the pilgrims was also built, and this was rebuilt at the end of the 18th century. In the second half of the 19th century, a new shrine was built. There were both technical and financial setbacks, but the church was completed in 1889 and inaugurated on May 26, 1890.
  In the following years, the number of pilgrims continued to grow, and in 1903 the old church was demolished to make room for a new hospice and guesthouse for the pilgrims.
  On March 11, 1915, the Genoese Pope Benedict XV gave the church the title of Basilica. Then, in 1917, Benedict built a small temple in the gardens of the Vatican City where a statue of Our Lady of the Watch (given to the Pope by the Genoese people) was enshrined.
  In 1929 in Ceranesi, a railway line (known as the “Autoguidovia”) was constructed, which allowed pilgrims to reach the shrine from the bottom of the valley. Before this the only way up was on foot. In 1963, a new road for vehicles was built (provincial road No 52 from Bolzaneto, 11 kilometres (7 miles) long), and in 1967 the “Autoguidovia” was considered to not be economical and was closed.
  On September 22, 1985, the shrine was visited by Pope John Paul II, and on May 18, 2008, by Pope Benedict XVI.
  Pope Francis while visiting Genoa on May 27, 2017, visited also the shrine, and here he had a lunch with a group of poor people, inmates and refugees.
caption: The Shrine seen from the esplanade
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