Tags: Religious Building.
The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church in Bologna northern Italy sited atop a forested hill Colle or Monte della Guardia some 300 metres above the city plain just south-west of the historical centre of the city. While a road now leads up to the sanctuary it is also possible to reach it along a (3.5 km) monumental roofed arcade (Portico di San Luca) consisting of 666 arches which was built in 1674-1793. It was meant to protect the icon as it was paraded up the hill.
