THE ANGELS ARE GIVING A CONCERT IN SARONNO. LOOK UP!

The shrine of the Beata Vergine dei Miracoli is at Piazza Santuario 1 in Saronno, in the province of Varese. Get off at Saronno station and walk to the square.

On ordinary days the church opens from 6.30 am to noon and from 3.30 to 6.30 pm. On Sundays and public holidays the hours are 6.30 am to 12.30 pm and 3.30 to 7 pm. Plan three stops: the façade, the dome and the frescoes by Luini.

Allow an hour if you also want to sit for a little while. For special opening and access arrangements, call the shrine on +39 02 9603027.

Find the angels on the front before you go in

From the square, look up before you get to the door. At the top of the façade are Mary and angels with wind instruments.

Those angels outside give you a clue to the surprise waiting inside. The front of the church developed from the late sixteenth century into the seventeenth. The balustrade with the statues dates to 1656.

Step back from the door to see it properly. This is an easy stop if you arrive during the midday closure, and it gives you one detail to remember when you stop at the dome.

Pedretto and the meeting of two roads

The first stone of the shrine was laid on 8 May 1498. Local devotion connects the church to the healing of a man called Pedretto.

In a dream he was asked to go to a crossroads where a statue of Mary already stood. Think about that story from the perspective of someone walking through the town.

This was a place people passed on their way somewhere else, until the place itself became a destination. If you have arrived with something to ask or a thank-you you have been carrying around, give yourself time to be quiet before you start looking around.

Six people from the town looked after the offerings

There is a detail easy to miss if you go straight in to see the dome. The funds offered for the shrine were entrusted to six deputies elected by the heads of households in the town.

They helped decide how the church would grow. Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, who also worked on Milan Cathedral, designed the older part of the shrine.

As more pilgrims came in the sixteenth century, Vincenzo Seregni added the central nave and the two side aisles. Look at the change from the nave to the area around the altar to get a sense of how the church took shape.

The music is above your head

Gaudenzio Ferrari painted the Concert of the Angels in the dome. The first thing you notice is the movement in a circle.

Then you start to see eyes, hands, instruments and open mouths. The figures are arranged in rings around the middle.

In among all that movement, try to choose a single angel and follow the shape of the instrument they are holding. If you have come with someone who loves music, ask what they can recognise.

Speak quietly or save your answers to compare when you are out in the square again. From the floor you see the concert as a whole first, then make out the details.

Something to do with children

Before you look up, ask everyone to choose one thing to find. It might be a singer, a string instrument or an angel who looks as though they are moving.

Give it a minute and then point out what you have found. For anyone who tires of looking up, one detail is enough.

You can also ask a simpler question. If the dome had a sound, where would it start?

The game works best in a whisper and you can stop whenever you need to. If Mass is in progress, wait until afterwards or save the game for a quieter visit.

Look down again and find Luini

After the dome it is easy to feel that you have seen the church. Bernardino Luini’s frescoes bring the story back to the scale of people meeting one another.

Look for the Presentation in the Temple. See where the Child is, then look at the people gathered around him. The shrine also holds scenes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Marriage of the Virgin and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.

With time for two, choose the ones that make you want to stay. Moving from the painted sky to Luini’s figures gives you a whole route inside the same building.

If you have come to pray

You can begin the other way round. Sit for a few minutes, then go and look at the paintings.

The dedication to the Blessed Virgin of Miracles connects the story of Pedretto to the angels you see overhead. If you have somebody in mind, take their name into a short prayer.

With a friend, you can spend different amounts of time inside and meet in the square afterwards. One of the pleasures of a visit in town is that you can all have the same train to catch and still find your own way of spending time in the church.

Saint Anne teaching a child

If you have a moment left, look to the left for Ambrogio Legnani’s painting of Saint Anne teaching Mary as a child. From a sky full of movement you come back to two people and the patience it takes to teach somebody.

If you are visiting with your mother or daughter, you might want to end the walk here. It is a small detour from the dome that can change what you take away from the visit.

The train and the midday closure

Choose Saronno as your station. Check the return train first and keep the shrine’s midday break in mind.

An arrival at 12.15 pm leaves a small window on a Sunday or public holiday. On an ordinary day it makes more sense to come back in the afternoon. If the door is closed, look at the front at leisure, then make a stop in town and return after 3.30 pm.

With only a short visit, begin at the dome. If someone needs step-free access, check which entrances are open and how to reach them from the square before you travel.

A last look from the square

The painted concert stays with you as far as the doorway. Outside are the square and the figures you noticed on the front of the church.

See which angel you remember best, the one you saw outside or the one you found after you looked up. You can walk back to the station with a photograph of the façade and a detail to tell someone about.

You might also think of somebody you want to bring next time. In Saronno an hour between trains can be just enough time to go and see Mary.