From Piazza del Popolo, crossing the porticoes at the base of the Municipal Palaces, which are known in Todi as the "Voltoni," one reaches Via San Lorenzo, where the Church of the Madonna del Campione is located. The origins of the sanctuary date back to the second half of the 1500s, when the Capuchins built a small chapel dedicated to St. Bonaventure. The title of Madonna del Campione was given to the church after a miraculous event on July 24, 1796, when an image of the Virgin with St. Joseph and the Child, placed nearby, miraculously opened its eyes. Following the miracle, the painting was placed in the nearby oratory. The work we admire today, however, is not the original, which was either destroyed or stolen in 1837. It was replaced in 1904 by the oil painting of Alessandro Zucchetti from Perugia. On the entrance wall of the church, there is a beautiful choir from the 1700s, and the lovely flooring is made of marble slabs. The painted terracotta altar, the vaulted ceilings, the striking 18th-century lacquered wooden crucifix, and the expressive statue of the Madonna Addolorata all enhance the church's interior. The church has undergone several restorations, the most recent of which was in 2007.
December 5, 2024