OUR LADY OF LOURDES’ CAVE

OUR LADY OF LOURDES’ CAVE

In 1914 don Sebastiano Lombardi, parish priest in Triora at the time, had the idea to create a cave in the village, dedicated to our Lady of Lourdes. The municipality chose the area behind the apse of the ‘collegiata’ that once hosted one of the public ovens (Rocca). The priest launched a money collection among the inhabitants of Triora and the nearby villages. 

The initiative was successful and he managed to collect 2.144,75 lire, enough to build the cave. The priest meticulously accounted for any expense incurred. He used to have his pockets full of candies to give to any child who brought him a piece of tuff. Several villagers started to bring stones to the area where the monument was being built. 

The monument was built fast. On June 13, 1915, after the rosary, a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary was placed in the cave. The hollow statue, made of cement, weighted 140 kilograms. On its base the following words are engraved: “L.S.P. 1914” (Lombardi Sebastiano, 1914). The statue cost 115 lire plus 16 lire for the transport. On November 9, the first mass was celebrated there. 

20 years later the cave was in poor conditions and had to be restored. The parish priest at that time, don Barla, collected generous donations and could start the works. On September 22, 1935, a mass was celebrated in the restored cave by Monsignor Emanuele Francesco. 

Over the years the conditions of the cave worsened and it was about to collapse. In 1989 the population helped again and collected the necessary funds to restore it. Several local artisans, Mario Parrini, Antonello Saldo and Marco Lanteri Laura and Enzo Olivieri volunteered to work on the restoration.

The house situated below the cave used to host the Ferraironi library with the documents and books collected by the illustrious historian Padre Francesco over the years. The house wall is decorated with several signs: Prabet somnos humilis casa securos (a modest house offers peaceful dreams) and Hic habitabo quondam elegi eam (I will live here because it is the home I chose). The wall also bears the emblem of the Republic of Genoa, dating back to the XIII century. That emblem, originally situated in the town hall, was donated to Padre Ferraironi by Mr. Cesare Viale.