The sanctuary of the Virgin Mary

Built on the hill between Gottasecca and Camerana, probably on an ancient crossroad of ways to the Langhe, Liguria, the Bormida and Uzzone valleys, the Gottasecca sanctuary can be reached through a two-kilometer-long panoramic little road in the woods.

Today totally isolated (near it there’s only a farm for the pilgrims to rest), the church is very ancient: it was one of the 16 churches of the bishopric of Alba, and is referred to in documents dating back to the year 998 as “Sancta Maria de Gudega”. No remainings are visible of that old church, apart from some traces in the bell tower foundations and some tombs discovered during the farming.

The building has been totally rebuilt in the eighteenth century; it now has a beautiful facade with eight pilasters and a one-nave inside, with the side altars decorated with unusually-shaped stuccos (columns, angels, plants, landscapes, religious symbols, grotesques). Interesting is also the main altar.

Unfortunately, in the last years many robbings have taken all further decorations away.