Madonna del Ghisallo

The Giro d’Italia is being contested these present three weeks, transferred from May because of the coronavirus. Back in 1949, Pope Pius XII built a chapel at an elevation of 754 meters, known as the Madonna del Ghisallo, Madonna of Cyclists. It is on the Ghisallo pass, where many cyclists pass through while touring the Giro della Lombardia and the Giro d’Italia. It is said that in that place the medieval Count of Ghisallo was saved from a band of robbers by the appearance of the Virgin Mary. It’s a tranquil place of birdsong and sunshine close to the town of Bellagio, and it remains a destination for cyclists. The Madonna del Ghisallo is the patroness of cyclists, declared by Pope Pius XII during the 1949 Giro d’Italia. An eternal flame burns inside in memory of every cyclist who has died on Italian roads, and the walls are hung with their pictures and with bikes and jerseys donated by champions from every era. 

The Cycling Museum behind the chapel of Madonna del Ghisallo

And now, behind the chapel, behind the statues of Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi, (two iconic Italian cyclists of the 30s, 40s and 50s,) there’s a museum of cycling, a modern purpose-built center that houses a huge archive of Italian cycling history. During World War II, the Italian cyclist Gino Bartali would carry in the frame of his bike false documents, and he would distribute them to various monasteries, and through them, many Jewish people could escape from the Nazis and Fascists. In fact, Israel has given Bartali the honor of ‘Righteous among the Nations,’ the highest honor given to those who during the Holocaust risked their lives to save people.