Description
The Sanctuary of Monte Grisa, the National Temple to Mary Mother and Queen, is the great concrete triangle that looms over Trieste from the north, at 330 metres above sea level. From up there a spectacular view opens over the city and the gulf.
The shape is no whim: the triangular profile evokes the letter M, Mary's initial. The idea came from a sketch by Bishop Antonio Santin, turned into a design by the engineer Antonio Guacci. The sanctuary is considered a classic example of Brutalist architecture.
Inside the reinforced concrete block there are in fact two churches, one above the other. On the wall of the high altar hangs the large bronze Crucifix by Marcello Mascherini, flanked by six candelabra by the same sculptor.
That Crucifix has a theatrical past: its plaster model was part of the set for Diego Fabbri's "Inquisizione", staged in 1958 at the Teatro Nuovo in Trieste, for which Mascherini had designed the sets and costumes.
The sanctuary was born of a vow. In 1945 Bishop Santin made a vow to the Virgin for the salvation of the city, threatened by the war; afterwards came the idea of a national Marian temple. In 1959 Pope John XXIII dedicated it to Mary Mother and Queen, as a symbol of peace between peoples, less than ten kilometres from the border.
The foundation stone was laid on 19 September 1959, while the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima was visiting Trieste. For the new temple the Bishop of Leiria had a copy carved by the same artist who had made the statue in the little chapel at Fátima.
The temple was inaugurated on 22 May 1966 and in 1992 it was visited by John Paul II. In 2007, 60 tonnes of material collapsed from the roof: it took almost ten years of work to restore it to its original form.
Its unmistakable silhouette appeals to film and television too. In the 2022 film "Diabolik - Ginko all'attacco!" it plays a museum in the imaginary city of Ghenf, and it also appears in the series "La porta rossa".
The shape is no whim: the triangular profile evokes the letter M, Mary's initial. The idea came from a sketch by Bishop Antonio Santin, turned into a design by the engineer Antonio Guacci. The sanctuary is considered a classic example of Brutalist architecture.
Inside the reinforced concrete block there are in fact two churches, one above the other. On the wall of the high altar hangs the large bronze Crucifix by Marcello Mascherini, flanked by six candelabra by the same sculptor.
That Crucifix has a theatrical past: its plaster model was part of the set for Diego Fabbri's "Inquisizione", staged in 1958 at the Teatro Nuovo in Trieste, for which Mascherini had designed the sets and costumes.
The sanctuary was born of a vow. In 1945 Bishop Santin made a vow to the Virgin for the salvation of the city, threatened by the war; afterwards came the idea of a national Marian temple. In 1959 Pope John XXIII dedicated it to Mary Mother and Queen, as a symbol of peace between peoples, less than ten kilometres from the border.
The foundation stone was laid on 19 September 1959, while the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima was visiting Trieste. For the new temple the Bishop of Leiria had a copy carved by the same artist who had made the statue in the little chapel at Fátima.
The temple was inaugurated on 22 May 1966 and in 1992 it was visited by John Paul II. In 2007, 60 tonnes of material collapsed from the roof: it took almost ten years of work to restore it to its original form.
Its unmistakable silhouette appeals to film and television too. In the 2022 film "Diabolik - Ginko all'attacco!" it plays a museum in the imaginary city of Ghenf, and it also appears in the series "La porta rossa".