The construction of the Basilica is linked to the miracle that occurred on 29 April 1596 when the young Marchino, deaf and dumb from birth, miraculously got word and hearing while praying in front of an image of the Madonna painted by Bertone. At that point, to the left of the temple, there is now a marble memory. The temple was designed by the architect Alessandro Balbi from Ferrara; the construction was carried out by Pacchioni Francesco from Reggio Emilia, who began its construction in 1597. Peculiarity of the Basilica is the extraordinary cycle of frescoes and altarpieces made by the best artists of the '600 Emilian: Ludovico Carracci, Gianfrancesco Barbieri (Guercino), Lionello Spada, Alessandro Tiarini, Carlo Bonomi and Luca Ferrari. The guilds of the arts contributed with precious donations:the holy water stoup of the wool guild and that of the silk art; the City commissioned to Guercino a work that is considered the masterpiece: the "Crucifixion of Christ, with the Madonna and Saints Mary Magdalene, Saint John and Saint Prospero". Not to be missed: the hall of sacred vestments and fabrics from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century; the treasure of Ghiara consists of reliquaries, monstrances, chalices, ex voto of the highest quality. Finally, the museum in which, among the various precious exhibits, there is the original design of Lelio Orsi who inspired the fresco by Bertone and the crown donated to the Madonna by the City Council Reggiano.

See the details of the IAT office in Reggio Emilia