After dinner, we saw the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca.
It is a basilica church sited over "Colle della Guardia", in a forested hill about 300 metres above the city.
It is the first monument that Bolognese people see when they are coming home driving the motorway. When they see this Sanctuary, they finally feel to be close to home
It is also possible to reach the sanctuary walking along a 3.5 km monumental roofed arcade (Portico di San Luca) consisting of 666 arches, which was built in 1674-1793. We also see some of these arches part of the arcade is restructuring.
The Sanctuary houses a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. In 1433, the spring was extremely rainy, threatening to ruin the harvest. To avoid the prospect of a famine, the lawyer Accarisi promoted the descent of the icon of the Madonna and Child (attributed to St. Luke) toask her the grace for the end of the rains. When the icon entered the city on July 5, the rain stopped. There was a big party with a procession of three days to the city, then they accompanied the image to the sanctuary. Since then, as urban vote, these celebrations are repeated every year (in May).