Canoscio is an Italian village and ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' (hamlet) of

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. T ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

History

Overview

It is home to the Shrine of the Madonna of Canoscio (Italian: ''Santuario della Madonna di Canoscio''), atop a hill overlooking the upper valley of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

at 449 m. The church has its origins in a votive chapel dedicated to the Madonna of the Assumption that was built by a certain Giovanni di Jacopo in 1348, for having been spared during the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. The chapel was enlarged in 1406. The present church in traditional Tuscan style celebrating the dogma of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

was built in 1855‑1878 by architect Emilio de Fabris, better known for the sensitive Gothic façade he provided for the Duomo of Florence. The shrine of Madonna di Canoscio remains a center of

Marian devotion Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orie ...

today. In 1998,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

raised the sanctuary church to the honor of a

Minor Basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. Another sight on the hill of Canoscio is a large 12th‑century Romanesque church, the Pieve of SS. Cosma e Damiano, with medieval votive

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es.

The Canoscio hoard

Canoscio was the site where a 6th‑century paleo-Christian dinner service of 25 silver pieces came to light under the plough in 1935: the pieces in the Canoscio hoard, now displayed in the Museo del Duomo, Città di Castello, as Early Christian liturgical silver, may not all have been expressly designed for liturgical use. The pieces, found carefully stowed under a large plate for protection as they were being buried in a shallow pit, consist of six plates, two

paten A paten or diskos is a small plate used for the celebration of the Eucharist (as in a mass). It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Wes ...

s, three unmarked hemispherical

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

s, a pyx with its cover, also unmarked, two strainers, a small ladle and nine spoons of purely domestic character. Not all the objects are in forms that can be related to the liturgy. Names of Aelianus and Felicitas, probably donors, are inscribed on one of the patens. The large plate that protected the hoard, was shattered by the plough: reassembled, it reveals the inscription in its center DE DONIS DEI ET SANCTI MARTYRIS AGAPITI UTERE FELIX. The largest of the unbroken plates was surely designed for a liturgical use from the beginning: in the center there is a raised surface familiar from pagan ''

patera In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''patera'' () or ''phiale'' ( ) is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "belly button") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...

e'', which kept the thumb free of the

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...

when making an offering. The central section is chased with a Byzantine Cross with alpha and omega: below flow four rivers. At the side of the cross are depicted the hand of God and the dove of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

; at the bottom there are two lambs facing each other. The larger of the two strainers is engraved with the

labarum The labarum ( or λάβουρον) was a '' vexillum'' (military standard) that displayed the "Chi-Rho" symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" (, or Χριστός) – '' Chi'' (χ) and ''Rho'' (� ...

and alpha and omega, their outlines traced with tiny straining holes.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Canoscio at Thayer's Gazetteer of Umbria
The Canoscio hoard Frazioni of Città di Castello Treasure troves of late antiquity Treasure troves in Italy