Our Lady of the Holy Mount of Viggiano

Marian vocation of Viggiano (Basilicata)

La devoción a Our Lady of the Holy Mount of Viggiano, also known as Madonna Nera di Viggianois linked to an ancient tradition of Basilicata and to the sanctuary located on the Sacred Mount, 1,725 metres of altitude, within the municipality of Viggiano. The local tradition places the finding of the image in a context of destruction and transfer of the old city of Grumentum; that account belongs to the field of Pious traditionnot to a fully demonstrated documentary chronology.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of the Holy Mount of Viggiano, also known as Madonna Nera di Viggianois linked to an ancient tradition of Basilicata and to the sanctuary located on the Sacred Mount, 1,725 metres of altitude, within the municipality of Viggiano. The local tradition places the finding of the image in a context of destruction and transfer of the old city of Grumentum; that account belongs to the field of Pious traditionnot to a fully demonstrated documentary chronology.

La documented history which appears more clearly in the sources consulted begins with the presence of the cult in Viggiano and the consolidation of the sanctuary in the modern age. According to a news source about the place, the image was taken to Viggiano and placed in a small chapel called S. Maria del Deposito, then become the Iglesia Madre de Viggiano, consagrada en 1735. Later, the sanctuary of the mountain received greater ecclesial recognition: it was raised to Basílica Pontificia menor en 1965 por la bula Lucanae genti de Pablo VI.

The image and the sanctuary

The advocation is represented by an image of the Black Virgin, a trait that relates to other Marian devotions of dark physionomy; the sources consulted name it as Madonna Nera di Viggianobut they do not provide a complete technical description of the material or of the polychrome. As a result, these details no constant con seguridad in the sources available for this tab.

The main place of worship is the Pontifical Basilica of the Sacred Mount of Viggiano o shrine of the Sacro Monte di Viggiano, located on the same mountain, a 1,725 metres, in the territory of Viggiano, Basilicata. A source presents it as the sanctuary regional de Basilicata. The whole is especially known for the procession that unites the population with the sanctuary on a path of 12 km.

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of the Holy Mount of Viggiano is venerated as patron of Basilicata and, in local devotional formulation, as Patron and Queen of the people of Lucano. Additional diocesan patronage is not documented in the sources consulted.

As for coronation, a local source and another divulgative claim that it was crowned by Leo XIII in 1890; this data is associated with the tradition of the image and is collected in the devotional memory of the sanctuary. If a strictly archived validation of the ceremony is required, that reference should be contrasted with documentation of the sanctuary or the diocesan file; however, for this sheet it may be stated that the tradition of coronation in 1890 by Lion XIII.

Party and devotion

Public devotion is concentrated on two main dates: the first Sunday of May y el first Sunday of September. The May celebration is linked to the solemn rise of the image from the church of Viggiano to the shrine of the mountain, while the September celebration reproduces the reverse route.

These pilgrimages bring together many faithful and are part of a well-established popular tradition, with processions, songs and festive expressions that are typical of the Luan religiosity. The sources consulted underline the strong link between this advocation and the Lucana diasporawho has taken the memory of the Virgin of Viggiano outside Basilicata. The sources provided do not contain reliable quantitative flow data for this data sheet.

Link to the Rosary

A specific and exclusive historical link of this advocation with the prayer of the Rosary. Even so, like all Marian devotion, the veneration to the Madonna Nera of Viggiano is naturally integrated into a spirituality of the Rosary focused on contemplating, with Mary, the mysteries of Christ, especially in contexts of pilgrimage, ascending to the sanctuary and community prayer.