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Valmadrera

Madonna di San Martino Sanctuary, Valmadrera

Valmadrera's first parish church, white on a rocky spur above the town at the top of an eighteenth-century Way of the Cross: inside, frescoes of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the nursing Madonna that gives it its name.

Visit duration
20–45 min
Booking
Not required
Area
Lecco Branch
The white sanctuary and its bell tower with a red spire and a statue on top, among tall cypresses above the retaining wall with two small chapels; behind, rocky peaks against a clear sky.Kaitu · CC0
  • Kaitu · CC0
  • Kaitu · CC0

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The white sanctuary and its bell tower with a red spire and a statue on top, among tall cypresses above the retaining wall with two small chapels; behind, rocky peaks against a clear sky.

Kaitu · CC0

Why go

The sanctuary of San Martino stands on a rocky spur above Valmadrera and houses the Madonna del Latte, a fifteenth-century late Gothic fresco placed on the high altar.

It was the town's first parish church, before the parish moved to Sant'Antonio in 1566. The church has a single nave with a barrel vault and two side chapels. Other fifteenth-century paintings survive on the triumphal arch and the left wall, including Saint Martin giving his cloak to a poor man. The steps and porch date from 1729; the climb passes the chapels of the Way of the Cross, completed in 1745, with decorations by the Torricelli brothers.

  • Frescoes from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, brought back to light by the restoration of 1990–93.
  • The walk up past the chapels of the Way of the Cross to the churchyard above the town.

Highlights

  • The fifteenth-century Madonna del Latte, on the altar
  • The frescoes of the Crucifix chapel, of 1521–23
  • Alceo Dossena's marble tabernacle
  • The Way of the Cross and the steps of 1729

Getting there

  • It stands at Via San Martino 84, on a spur above Valmadrera; it is reached on foot by a road lined with the chapels of the Way of the Cross.

Accessibility

  • The sanctuary is not accessible to disabled visitors: it is reached on foot, along a road that follows the Via Crucis.

On the map

Explore the lake
ValmadreraMadonna di San Martino Sanctuary, Valmadrera

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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Distances as the crow flies.

Sources and credits

Verified at source30 Sept 2026Lombardia Beni Culturaliopens in a new tab

Sources and credits

Verified at source30 Sept 2026Lombardia Beni Culturaliopens in a new tab