Santuario di N.S. di Oropa

Tradition attributes the sanctuary to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli (4th century); the Black Madonna is art historically dated to the 13th century. The sanctuary complex developed after a 1599 plague vow. UNESCO World Heritage since 2003.

According to tradition, Saint Eusebius of Vercelli—exiled to the Holy Land in the 4th century for opposing Arianism—was divinely led to three statues buried under ancient ruins in Jerusalem. Returning to Italy, he placed one at Crea, one in Cagliari, and the third in a cave at Oropa that was already a pre-Christian sacred site. Art historians date the Black Madonna to the 13th century, the work of a sculptor from Valle d'Aosta using Swiss pinewood. Whether 4th century or 13th, the devotion has grown across centuries, formalized by centennial papal coronations (1620, 1720, 1820, 1920, 2021) and visited by 800,000 pilgrims annually.