The Black Madonna of Viggiano. The roots in faith.

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On the first Sunday of May each year, the city of Viggiano celebrates its Black Madonna, the beating heart of religious devotion in this region and the surrounding areas. She was officially proclaimed the “Patroness” of Basilicata in 1991 by Pope John Paul II.

These are the roots of faith that our grandmothers and grandfathers carried with them and passed down to us.

The Sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Viggiano is located on the Sacred Mount of Viggiano at an altitude of 1725 meters above sea level, approximately 11 km from the town center. It is reachable via a municipal road that winds up the mountain of the same name, from where one can admire the scenic beauty of the entire Val d’Agri.

The sacred figure of the Black Madonna of Viggiano is represented by a wooden statue, entirely covered in gold, except for the faces, hands, and feet of the Child. In its current composition, it strongly resembles the Nikopoia (a type of Byzantine icon in which Mary is depicted frontally, seated on a throne, with the Baby Jesus in her arms), and the features of the Madonna herself resemble those portrayed in Byzantine icons. A particularity is constituted by the fact that both the Madonna and the Child hold a globe in their hands, the Mother in her right hand and the Son in the other.

It seems that her presence dates back to the period of the early evangelization in the Roman cities of Grumentum and Venusia, but most likely her cult dates back to the arrival of the Basilian monks from the East, hence the reason for her olive-colored complexion.

It is said that the statue was brought to the top of the mountain to escape the “barbaric fury” of the Saracens, around the year One thousand. The statue was later found by some shepherds thanks to the regular appearance of certain strange fires in a particular place, and it was brought to the village, in a chapel called S. Maria del Deposito, later becoming the Mother Church of Viggiano consecrated in 1735.

In 1965, it was elevated to the status of Pontifical Minor Basilica.

At the same time, a Chapel was also erected at the site of the discovery, on the summit of the sacred mountain, where the statue was brought every first Sunday of May and from which it was taken back every first Sunday of September.

The sacred effigy, even today, on the first Sunday of May, is carried on the shoulders by the faithful who, from the village, bring the statue to the Sanctuary of the Sacred Mount of Viggiano, and then complete the same journey. Return journey on the first Sunday of September, when the regal statue of the Black Madonna of Viggiano returns to the town center.

During the procession, pilgrims, singing and praying, ascend on foot, even barefoot, carrying floral tributes and candles on their heads, raising songs, supplications, and thanksgivings to the Black Madonna.

During the pilgrimage, approximately 60,000 faithful participate, and the ascent to the mountain concludes with a lunch in the surrounding forest near the Sanctuary. For the following 4 months, Mount Viggiano becomes a destination for numerous walks and excursions by both local and foreign pilgrims who come to pay homage to the Black Madonna and her Child.

The choice to move the statue of the Virgin from Viggiano to the mountain above is driven by the legend that tells of a miraculous phenomenon: at the end of the construction works of the Chapel on the Mount, the statue would have been transported by an invisible force to Viggiano, where the Mother Church was erected for this reason. But the following Sunday in May, the Madonna lifted herself up and returned to the top of the mountain, as if to manifest her will to stay in the village for part of the year and for some months on the Sacred Mount.

Every year, countless pilgrims from Lucania and beyond, devoted to this Madonna, travel to Viggiano to pray and pay homage to the Virgin.

Picture: Gianfranco Grieco – Own work