SHRINE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN OF MADONNA DEI PRATI

Just two kilometers northeast of Roncole Verdi stands the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Madonna dei Prati, a sacred place, rich in history and emotional resonance. Built between 1690 and 1696 to a design by architect Don Francesco Callegari, the sanctuary was erected to house a miraculous fresco of the Virgin Mary, venerated since the 15^th century in a rural chapel located in the fields known as Prati della Colombarola. The church, with its central apse layout, is striking in its grandeur, though its façade and exterior were never completed.

Inside, visitors can admire splendid late-17^th-century carved frames that enclose sacred artworks inspired by great masters. Among them are a copy of The Holy Family With Saints by Girolamo Bedoli, and a painting attributed to Pasquale Ottino depicting God the Father with the Holy Family. In the apse, another prominent frame, possibly the work of Giovanni Setti, contributes to the shrine’s refined liturgical atmosphere. For centuries, this place of worship has drawn pilgrims from the surrounding region and the dioceses of Parma, Cremona, and Piacenza.

But the shrine is also linked to one of the most symbolic and curious stories from Giuseppe Verdi’s youth. As a child, the future composer often came here to visit his grandmother and to receive his first music lessons from Don Paolo Costa. One popular legend tells that, while serving Mass in Roncole as an altar boy, Verdi became entranced by the melody of the organ. The celebrant, Don Jacopo Masini, trying to snap him out of his reverie, gave him a firm kick that sent him tumbling to the foot of the altar. Young Verdi, spirited even then, is said to have uttered a colorful curse in dialect: “Ch’at ciapa na saièta!” (“May a lightning bolt strike you!”). On September 14^th 1828, during the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, a lightning struck the shrine. Six people died, including Don Masini and one of Verdi’s cousins. That day, Verdi was supposed to accompany the vespers on the harmonium, but a sudden storm kept him sheltering in a nearby house. The tragic event reportedly left him with a lingering sense of guilt and superstitious fear feelings that, according to some, never truly left him. A popular 19^th-century engraving still bears witness to this remarkable episode from local folklore.