The Votive Shrines

Fiuredde, Madonnelle, Cunnicelle, Altarini, Sacelli, Pinturette: in every country you go, you find a votive shrine!

Pagan temples and Christian churches have always been considered evidence of religiosity, but no less important, although considered minor signs, are also the Votive Aedicules. Built by private citizens out of devotion or gratitude for having received a grace, the votive aedicules have always been an expression of popular art and religiosity. They date back to Roman civilization, which used to affix sacred images of the Lares (minor deities) on the walls of the house, with the aim of protecting those who lived there.
Only later were they used by the Catholic Church, thus replacing elements of pagan worship with Christian ones. The human need for sacred places, made such by religious rites and relics of saints, immediately follows the beginning of history.

In the ancient world, these places usually combined a suggestive location with an architecture inspired by the sense of the divine. The life of the communities was focused around it. Their sacred boundaries were separated from the “normal” world by fences and ritual gates.
Today, when religious values ​​are increasingly questioned, holy places have taken on a new kind of importance, becoming spiritual cases capable of giving meaning and direction to the noblest aspirations of man. The aedicula sacra was precisely a simulacrum of an open temple. Generally it had a square plan composed of four columns on a stepped base, which supported the roof and the tympanums of the four facades, while inside was placed the divinity to be venerated.
This type of shrine evolved over the years, becoming just a frame for the image of the deity and only later became a small architectural organism in the shape of a chapel ending with a dome or spire. The shrines became a meeting point for the neighborhood as a place where they could recite the rosary or the prayers of the day. Even today, it is possible to notice them on a corner of the facade or as independent elements often recognizable by a small flame that, burning, was the only source of street lighting.

Just as it is narrated in the Old Testament of the Bible, where altars often arose in precise places where God had manifested himself, perhaps protecting his people, even the shrines, not infrequently, were built as a vow for having escaped a danger, a famine or a plague, a natural disaster.

On other occasions, however, they were built in border areas, at crossroads of communication routes, on mountain passes or in places where popular tradition identified a religious motivation.
Starting from the 12th century, the term sacred aedicule or votive aedicule also became synonymous with Eucharistic tabernacle, votive capital, small shrine.

In the photo Votive Shrine Maria SS del Rosario in Naples

Small architectural structures, designed to protect a sacred image that is the object of worship, both inside churches and along the streets, on the facades of houses, or in the countryside where they are often placed near or at crossroads or on the entrance door of ancient farmhouses.
Therefore, the main role of these architectural elements was to protect the place on which they were built and to allow the community to gather in prayer.

From an architectural point of view, it is a precise reference to classical architecture, especially Roman architecture, where it is possible to easily recognize the key elements: the tympanum supported by columns.

There are different types:

• a cappella: small free-standing building which, in addition to containing the sacred image to be venerated, includes an altar and a space for the gathering of some of the faithful;
• sailing: it also appears as an independent building, but is made up of a wall, in which the sacred image is placed with a crowning tympanum;
• in a niche: built into the walls of homes, but often also along streets and in public buildings.

Votive shrines are therefore a valuable artistic/architectural document not only for their religious relevance, but as a historical document. Today, many votive shrines are being restored, given the degradation to which they are often subjected, not only by professionals in the sector but also by private individuals. Furthermore, a new type of tourism is developing recently, characterized by itineraries determined by the presence of votive shrines in a specific city.

These elements, often underestimated, tell the story of the people, the city and popular religious architecture. They are details of no small importance that change, decorate the urban face, arouse particular attention not only from an architectural but also spiritual point of view.

Good luck Giusi
Cover photo: Votive shrine in Palermo. Author: fotokon (Konrad Zelazowski) on Depositphotos.com