The Sanctuary rises up from the hills east of Lago d’Orta in Ameno, an outlying hamlet of Vacciago. The facade, in the Neo-Classic style, has four granite columns that support a trabeation done by the architect Giovanni Molli in 1840 and completed with the construction of a tympanum only in 1875. It is bordered by two arched colonnades with two small windows that face the interior. A large dome dominates the apse with its Neo-Classic white marble altar; the four-columned Baveno granite pronaos is also Neo-Classic. With splendid frescos from the early 19th century, the Sanctuary has a cycle of 36 “paintings” which illustrate scenes form the Old Testament connected to the coming of the Savior and to the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
