The History

Origins

The first historical document that indicates the presence of a small church in the Orgials area is an Agreement on the boundaries of Vinadio and Isola dated 23rd September 1307. It refers to the “hospice of St. Mary of Brasca” which was a small chapel flanked by simple rooms for the hospitality of wayfarers and pilgrims. In a later deed, dated 21 February 1447, it appears that the hospice was administered by the parish priest of Vinadio along with four council members. The hospice was a sacred place for welcoming pilgrims and vital for the economic development of local trade. Hermits who dedicated their lives to the service of the wayfarers are believed to have been the first to live at St. Mary’s.

The Sanctuary from the 1800s to today

From the mid-1700s, new buildings were built for the wayfarers, such as the house for the custodian or randiere, the stables, the barns and a large sleeping area. At the beginning of the 18^th century, work began on the construction of arcades in front of the church. This was completed in 1822 with a circular covered area for processions and novenas. Following this, work was required to widen and improve the unpaved track so that vehicles with wheels could reach it.

Around the mid-1800s, work began on a building parallel to the church connected by arcades to host pilgrims and staff.

The roof of the church was built in 1870, to substitute the wooden one which was destroyed by a fire. Alessandro Arnaud, an engineer, called drew up a project in 1881 and in the years that followed, the facade and the bell tower as we see them today were completed.

Being on the border, this area was frequently used by soldiers, not only at times of war, while digging trenches and military forts. For military purposes, in 1924 the road was improved and a cableway which connected Pratolungo to the Lombarda Pass was set up.

Once the wars ended, the buildings which had been constructed with the sole purpose of destroying man, were gradually put to a different use.              Thanks to the brilliant intuition of the then rector of the church, Fr Giorgio Pepino, who spent most of his life and energy on the recovery of these buildings and the rebirth of the Sanctuary, the old hospice, the military building known as “St Joachim” and gradually all the barracks were converted giving new life to the Sanctuary.

After the end of the Second World War, the church started to be too small to host the increasing crowds of pilgrims and tourists who flocked there. As a result, in 1971-72 the cloisters between the church and the old hospice were redesigned and made more suitable for religious celebrations. On the ground floor of the hospice, the confessional chapel was built to provide an atmosphere of recollection, and this was completed in the year 2000 with the construction of the chapel of Adoration.

From 2008-2010 the “St Joachim” building underwent a total renovation: a fully-fitted kitchen and new dining rooms were put in, and above all the bedrooms were modernised. The latest renovations date back to the summer of 2019-2020, when improvements to the former custodian’s (randiere) house began. The house, which has still to be completed, will have a multi-purpose room for meetings and catechesis on the first floor, and a museum area on the ground floor to recall the thousand-year-old history of the holy sanctuary, its pilgrims and randiere.