Cislago - The Madonna della Neve festival in Cislago features devotion, music, and guided tours - Archive - Varese News

The Pro Loco of Cislago , with the parish and under the patronage of the Municipality, is organizing the festival of the Madonna della Neve . This celebration commemorates the miraculous snowfall that fell in Rome on August 5th in the 4th century under Pope Liberius, which led to the construction of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore; the first church dedicated to the cult of the Madonna in the West.

In the church of Santa Maria a Cislago – a treasure trove of precious works of art – the scene of the miracle is depicted in two different frescoes: one from 1525 and the other from 1618.

Program for Sunday, August 3rd

10.30am Holy Mass and opening of the exhibition The exhibition “La Madonna del Parto” with the creations of Isa Borroni, an artist from Saronno

12pm aperitif and opening of the food stand with takeaway tripe, peritt and brugn

3pm Guided tour

5pm singing of Solemn Vespers

8:30 pm recitation of the Holy Rosary and singing of the Litanies

9:15 PM Candlelight concert by pianist Angela Spadaro

Guided tour of the Madonna della Neve in Cislago

The guided tour is a journey from the Middle Ages to the Counter-Reformation through the "interpretation" of the precious frescoes depicting rare subjects, including 21 different saints and 33 depictions of the Virgin Mary, making the church of Santa Maria della Neve unique in the entire province of Varese.

Cited from 1256 onwards as a devotional church, it later became the seat of a lay brotherhood or schola linked to the order of the Humiliati. Between the 15th and 16th centuries the entire hall underwent an expansion project, which was repainted in 1525 by Giangiacomo Lampugnani with devotional frescoes depicting the Madonna as protector of motherhood (four Madonnas of the Milk, the Madonna of Mercy, the Madonna of Tenderness); the saints of the milk-bearers and the saints who helped against plagues.

In 1731, the new Baroque altar was built, featuring the extremely rare miraculous image of the pregnant Madonna or Madonna del Parto, which has accompanied its fame over the centuries.

For information, call 3485944384 or [email protected] – no reservation required.