Santuario di San Luca

Hilltop sanctuary reached by the world's longest covered portico

The Madonna di San Luca sits on the wooded hill of Colle della Guardia, 280 metres above the southwest edge of the city. The Byzantine-style icon inside, said to have been painted by Saint Luke himself, has been the city's protector since the twelfth century. Every year at Ascension the icon is carried in procession down the portico into Bologna, where it stays in the cathedral for a week before being returned.

The walk up the portico from Porta Saragozza takes about an hour and is mostly uphill — bring water in summer. Alternatively, the San Luca Express tourist train runs from Piazza Maggiore on weekends. The terrace in front of the basilica gives the best view of Bologna and the plain of the Po.

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A story
The portico from Porta Saragozza up to the sanctuary is 3.8 kilometres long with 666 arches — built in the eighteenth century so the Madonna of San Luca could be carried into the city for the rogation processions without ever being touched by rain. It is the longest continuous portico in the world.