Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia

Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia
Santuario di Nostra Signora della Guardia
Location	Ceranesi, Genoa, Liguria, Italy
Architectural style(s)	Neo-Renaissance
Website	www.santuarioguardia.it
Location of Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia in Italy

The Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia ("Our Lady of the Watch") is a Roman Catholic place of pilgrimage located on the top of Monte Figogna (804 m asl) in the Municipality of Ceranesi, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city of Genoa, in the northwest of Italy.

It is the most important Marian shrine in Liguria.

The name “Guardia” in Italian means “watch”, and the shrine is so called because in the Middle Ages Mount Figogna was a strategic observation station for monitoring the movement of armies along the Valpolcevera and of ships on the sea in the approaches to Genoa. From the pavement in front of the shrine, on a clear day, it is possible to look over all the Polcevera valley below, part of the city of Genoa, and the Ligurian Riviera. On a very clear day, mainly in winter, the skyline of the mountains of the French island of Corsica can also be seen.

The shrine is the destination of pilgrims from Genoa and from and all over Italy. The cult has been spread throughout Italy and far beyond, so that many churches and shrines have been dedicated to Nostra Signora della Guardia.^[1]