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Menaggio

Madonna di Breglia Sanctuary, Plesio

Visit duration
20–45 min
Booking
Not required
Area
Centro Lago
The white front of the sanctuary with its porch and the roundel of the Madonna, on the paved forecourt, against a blue sky.Kaitu · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Ottantafame · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Kaitu · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The white front of the sanctuary with its porch and the roundel of the Madonna, on the paved forecourt, against a blue sky.

Kaitu · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

The Madonna di Breglia sanctuary stands on top of Monte Gordola, above Breglia in the comune of Plesio, and is one of the diocesan sanctuaries of Como.

The white church keeps a Madonna carved in marble, venerated for more than two centuries: a member of the Tatti family of Breglia brought it from Genoa in 1740. Until 1777 the statue stood in a small oratory; that year work began on the present building, known in the past also as the church of Santa Maria or of the Queen of Heaven. Along the last stretch of the cobbled road up to the sanctuary, on the left, stand fourteen stations, each with a painting on copper of the Mysteries of the Rosary. Breglia is also where the path to the Rifugio Menaggio and Monte Grona begins.

  • A sanctuary on a hilltop above the Val Menaggio, with the lake below its forecourt.
  • It pairs with the climb to the Rifugio Menaggio, which starts at Breglia.

Highlights

  • The marble Madonna brought from Genoa in 1740
  • The fourteen chapels of the Mysteries of the Rosary along the climb
  • The white church on the top of Monte Gordola

Getting there

  • It is at Via al Santuario 8, Breglia, in the comune of Plesio, above Menaggio; the last stretch is a cobbled road lined with the chapels.

Accessibility

  • The last stretch of the road up to the sanctuary is cobbled.

The mountains from here

The highest summit in view from here is Grigna Settentrionale, 2410 m, 16 kilometres away.

Kaitu · CC BY-SA 4.0

360° photograph

Madonna di Breglia Sanctuary, Plesio

Photograph by Kaitu (CC BY-SA 4.0), levelled · Summits © OpenStreetMap

The lake to the south from the Madonna di Breglia, past the bare trees, with Monte Crocione on the right.

  • Il Motto, 865 m, 0 km
  • Pizzo della Pieve, 2257 m, 16 km
  • Grigna Settentrionale, 2410 m, 16 km
  • Grigna Meridionale, 2177 m, 19 km
  • Zucco Pertusio, 1671 m, 17 km
  • Monte Barro, 922 m, 27 km
  • Corno di Canzo Occidentale, 1373 m, 22 km
  • Monte Cornizzolo, 1241 m, 24 km
  • Monte Corbera / Monte Dalco, 997 m, 14 km
  • Monte Ponciv, 1452 m, 15 km
  • Monte San Primo, 1682 m, 15 km
  • Costa San Primo - Cima Nord, 1492 m, 14 km
  • Monte Crocione, 1641 m, 6 km
  • Monte Galbiga, 1691 m, 7 km
  • Ciapp del castell, 835 m, 2 km

On the map

Explore the lake
MenaggioMadonna di Breglia Sanctuary, Plesio

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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Sources and credits

Sources and credits