Sanctuary of the Madonna dell’Angelo Historical Timeline

Origins

A church has stood on this point since at least the medieval period, and the tradition attaches it to an image of the Virgin said to have been brought ashore here by the sea -- the standard founding story of a coastal Marian sanctuary, and one the town has held to for centuries.

Turning points

The building has been damaged and rebuilt repeatedly. Standing on rock at the water's edge on an exposed Adriatic coast means storms, and the present structure is the result of successive reconstructions rather than a single date.

Influential people

The sanctuary belonged to the fishing community rather than to any noble patron, and its upkeep came from the fleet.

Cultural evolution

The quinquennial boat procession, in which the fishing fleet carries the image by water, is the ritual expression of that ownership and has continued into a period when the town lives on tourism rather than fishing.

Present-day significance

It is now Caorle's most photographed building and one of the few places on this coast where a beach resort and an old devotional practice are visibly the same town.