Italian Lakes - Madonna del Sasso - White gravestones leading to church on top of hill. Part of Box 184 Boswell Collection - Italian Lakes. 'The Madonna del Sasso is a sanctuary and pilgrimage church in Orselina, above the city of Locarno in Switzerland. It is the principal sight and goal of pilgrimage in the city. The founding of the sanctuary goes back to a vision of the Virgin Mary that the Franciscan brother Bartolomeo d'Ivrea experienced in the night of 14/15 August 1480. The interior is highly decorated, and a platform gives a magnificent view of the city. The sanctuary is linked to Locarno city centre by the Locarno?Madonna del Sasso funicular.' Madonna_del_Sasso,_Switzerland