Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Anglona

A journey of faith spanning over ten kilometers

The Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Anglona is one of the most heartfelt Marian rites in southern Basilicata. Every year, on the last Sunday of April, the revered statue of Our Lady is carried on shoulders by the faithful for over ten kilometers, from the Sanctuary of Santa Maria Regina di Anglona — which overlooks the hill halfway between Tursi and Policoro — to the cathedral of Tursi.

Legend and history

Tradition tells of a young shepherd to whom a "beautiful Lady" appeared, inviting him to call the inhabitants to come and get her: thus the statue of Our Lady was found, then taken to the sanctuary. The wooden statue, made at the end of the 18th century, depicts the Madonna seated on a throne with the Child Jesus on her left arm. Crowned Queen of Anglona in 1901, Our Lady was proclaimed patron saint of Tursi and the diocese in 1946.

Devotion that is renewed

Promoted by the Diocese of Tursi-Lagonegro with the participation of confraternities and the faithful, the pilgrimage is a moment of strong spiritual intensity and community identity. The setting is the remarkably evocative sanctuary of Anglona, a Romanesque jewel built between the 11th and 12th centuries.