Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary ( Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario ) is a Roman Catholic Marian Sanctuary of Pompei in the Italian province of Naples. The neo-baroque dome basilica was built in honor of the Queen of the Rosary 1878-1891 on the initiative of Blessed Bartolo Longo and 1934-1939 substantially expanded. It can hold 6,000 worshipers. The Marian Shrine is the Cathedral of Pompei Territorialprälatur and has the rank of a Pontifical Basilica.

History

Bartolo Longo (1841-1926), lawyer and heir to a large fortune, had set itself the promotion of the Rosary goal after his religious conversion. For his planned in the valley of Pompeii Rosary Church him a picture of the Mother of God, the two saints was bestowed with the child, presents the rosary. The unsightly and neglected image Longo little liked, soon a first miracle healing was attributed to the more followed, and it became a place of pilgrimage. Longo and the Neapolitan nobles Mariana di Fusco, whom he married in 1885, made ​​it possible with its foundations in addition to significant works of charity the construction of the Sanctuary. The single-nave church on cross ground plan was completed in 1891 and from 1934 enlarged by two aisles with chapels and an ambulatory due to the large crowds of worshipers. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine in 1979 and 2003, Pope Benedict XVI. , 2008.

Architecture and Facilities

The Rosary Basilica is oriented to the north. Choir and transepts close with apses. About the transept is a dome with a high drum, surrounded by four side domes. Kingdom divided and decorated with statues are the decorative facade on the south and in 1925 completed 80 m high Campanile with a public viewing platform. The aisles are divided into chapels with their own flat domes and apses; the same configuration shows the chapels in the choir.

The church interior is richly decorated with frescoes, sculptures and ornaments in colors and shapes of the Baroque, which revolve thematically around the mysteries of the rosary.

The organ was built in 1952 by the organ builder Mascioni. Has the slider chests tool 85 tab on five plants Manual and pedal, playable by a three-manual console. The works are divided into six independent body organ in the church. The tracker action are electric.