This is an amazing shrine to St Gerard. Located in the mountains east of Naples. A beautiful peaceful place. One of the most moving things we saw in Italy was the room full of items sent to the shrine requesting prays for children in crisis. Bib, ratlles, pictures, every imaginable childhood item. Thousands of them. All sent with the hope and prayers that St Gerard would come to the aid of the suffering child. He is considered the patron saint of mothers and children. The sections dedicated to showing the damage done to the shrine during the 1980 earthquake that devestated Italy was great. This is worth the trip.
Il Santuario pur se non è una eccellente attrazione architettonica è ben curato ed organizzato.Suggestiva è una stanza meravigliosa strapiena di fiocchi della nascita dei bimbi donati in continuazione da genitori di fede.Commoventi sono le tante invocazioni di grazie tanto attese da mamme desiderose di una gravidanza tanto attesa.Per chi veramente crede ed evidenzio solo per chi crede consiglio vivamente di pregare questo Santo ed acquistare a soli 2,00 un fazzoletto di devozione con una preghiera da recitare con amore.San Gerardo Vi sarà vicini: questo semplice ma prezioso pensiero l'ho donato a due coppie d'amici ed ora ho il piacere di vederli felici
Ovviamente per i credenti è un posto particolare. Soprattutto per le donne in attesa, in quanto il santo a cui è intitolato il santuario è appunto il protettore delle donne in attesa, che per tradizione, dopo la nascita del bambino/a, portano in devozione il fiocco. Fiocchi che sono raccolti tutti in una stanza, che è impressionante da vedere
come consueto dalle mie parti si organizzano pulman per il pellegrinaggio al santuario di san gerardo...io non vi ero mai stato un posto incantevole ..suggestivo ,luogo di culto e di fedeun posto immerso nella natura....veramente bello.
Vi è un santuario moderno grande e uno piu piccolo epiu antico, tutti dedicati a San Gerardo. Sono annessi anche un interessante museo missinario, uno dedicato al santo Particolarmente suggestiva la sala dediaata agli ex voto per bambini: piena di fiocchi di nascita e fotografie dagli anni 40 ai nostri giorni
Sono rimasto contento di essere venuto in questo Santuario. Veramente una bella esperienza anche se era Domenica e c'erano parecchie persone, molti pullman che arrivavano. Mi piace. Tornerò.
La Basilica è molto bella ,la stanza dei fiocchi suggestiva,poi è possibile anche visitare un piccolo museo sulla vita del santo e visitare una bella mostra di presepi.Non vi sono biglietti da pagare e si può godere di un bel panorama. Intorno vi sono diverse bancarelle e negozi,,,io purtroppo ho avuto una brutta esperienza perchè mi hanno venduto del pecorino scaduto da un mese , per questo vi consiglio di fare molta attenzione agli acquisti.La chiesa nuova invece non mi ha particolarmente colpito.
Siamo stati con un gruppo di pellegrini in visita a questo santuario molto toccante se ci si arriva con fede e spiritualità. .tante belle dimostranze di fede umana davvero toccante. .visitatelo!!!
Fantastico da visitare il contatto con la gente la tranquillità la posizione la chiesa l'ambiente la gentilezza delle persone la preghiera le case il panorama
On our recent trip to Italy, my husband and I made it a priority to visit the tombs of certain saints who are near to our hearts, and St. Gerard of Materdomini was one of them. We visited for religious reasons, but found little logistical information on line to help us plan our trip, so I offer this review to help future visitors. GETTING THERE: Although in the remote mountain town of Materdomini, the Sanctuary is very easy to get to by car. The route is all highways from the A1 autostrada, and as you get closer, the signs pointing to the "Santuario San Gerardo" will get you there. Use the address of the facility given on the website in your GPS to get you there - it worked for us.SITE AMENITIES: This place is clearly equipped for bus tourists. Although we had the place nearly to ourselves on a Tuesday afternoon in July, the size of the parking lot and other amenities leads me to believe that the place gets a large amount of (mostly Italian?) visitors via bus. There is a large, shady picnic area in the wooded area next to the parking lot where we enjoyed our home-packed sandwiches, and that seems to be encouraged. Toilet amenities are large, and the complex appears to be handicapped accessible. Also, we were here on a summer afternoon, and with the exception of the gift shop, the entire complex was open all afternoon (rare during the Italian afternoon siesta time).THE COMPLEX: There are several buildings here which will take some time for a visitor to go through, maybe 2-3 hours. 1 - MODERN CHURCH: The first structure that you come to is a modern (1070's?) church dedicated to St. Gerard. It was here where we enjoyed mass at noon (all in Italian), and it seems there are other mass times posted outside (see photo). Other than the mass, and the obvious architectural reference to LeCorbusier's Ronchamp chapel in France from the interior, there is little else of interest here.2 - ROOM OF THE BOWS: Past the entrance into the new church, you will come to the relatively small (15' x 25') Room of the Bows. It is here where Italian families come to drop a gift of pink or blue bows and other baby items to St. Gerard in thanks of their precious arrivals. The ceiling is covered in a sea of pink and blue baby items, and every inch of the rest of the room is covered with photos of babies. It happened to be a very emotional experience for me. There is a large, plexiglass box where you can leave items for inclusion in the room, and witnessed one family doing so during our visit.3 - OLD CHURCH: Continue past the entrance into the new church, and you will come to the old church of St. Gerard. It is here where the tomb of St. Gerard exists. A very beautiful, somber and holy place. On the way, you will also see "Little Gerard's well," the site of one of the Saint's miracles. As the story goes, when he was a young boy, a key was dropped down into the well. Hearing of this dilemma, the young Gerard went to fetch a small statue of the baby Jesus, lowered it down into the well, and pulled up the baby Jesus holding the lost key.4 - MUSEUM: Through the old church, and through a side door, you will make your way to the museum of St. Gerard. Here you will see many paintings depicting the life of the Saint and his miracles, as well as several personal items. Included here is the device that he used for his daily self-flagellation. In addition, you can see St. Gerard's bedroom set up. I have to imagine that this was brought here into the museum, and not the original location, but it gives a good visual indication of the spartan life that he led.5 - ADDITIONAL MUSEUM: Back through the linking concrete structure, and upstairs, there is another museum filled with gifts to the Saint in thanks for his help in intercession in their lives. On the walls are countless photos of car crashes survived, and letters describing ailments cured. In addition, there are metal plates hung on the walls of different body parts (i.e. hand, foot, heart, lungs, etc.) where you can leave your own notes for the saint.6 - GIFT SHOP: Close to the entry and parking lot, there is a small gift shop where you can purchase some religious items pertaining to St. Gerard - medals, bookmarks, jewelry, books, etc. Unfortunately, there was only 1 small pamphlet written in English - the rest was in Italian. Here, you can also buy a St. Gerard handkerchief (for I think 2 Euros) to protect mothers and children. The gift shop is closed daily between 1 pm - 3 pm.St. Gerard's handkerchief story is as follows: While he was leaving the house of a family he had gone to visit, he dropped his handkerchief. A young woman retrieved it, but as she handed it to him, Gerard told her mysteriously, "Keep it. One day it will be of service to you." Although puzzled, the woman did keep it. And a few years later, she faced life threatening complications as she was about to give birth to her first child. She remembered the mysterious hanky and the promise, and asked that it be brought to her in her travail. She held it to her womb and immediately the pain ceased and she delivered a normal, healthy child. The miraculous handkerchief was passed from mother to mother as they were about to give birth in the town of Olive to Citra. The first mother passed the precious relic on to her niece and on it went through the generations.This is a wonderful religious experience in remembrance of St. Gerard. I definitely left feeling closer to the Saint, and more enlightened about his life and miracles.