Our Lady of Bonaria

«Madonna di Bonaria» · Cagliari, Cerdeña (Italy)

From the hill of Bonaria, on the Gulf of Cagliari, the Virgin Mercedaria protects the sailors. From his name - "good air" - he took his, on the other side of the sea, the city of Buenos Aires.

Origin and history

The tradition of the sanctuary refers to the miracle of the chest thrown into the sea: in the 14th century, during a storm, sailors threw into the water the cargo to lighten the ship, and a large chest reached the coast of Cagliari. Collected by the merchant friars of Bonaria, when they opened it they found an image of the Virgin with the Child and a cirius that, according to the story, was lit on its own. Thus was born the fame of Madonna di Bonaria.

The devotion spread throughout Sardinia, especially between sailors and sailors, and the merchant basilica became one of the great Marian centers on the island, of which the Virgin was declared the maximum patron. Its name crossed the ocean: the city of "Santa María de los Buenos Aires," in Argentina, took its name from this title.