The Sanctuary of Santa Cristina is a stone chapel or small church perched precariously atop a rocky crag, some 1300 meters high, overlooking the Val Grande National Park. It is within the territory of the comune of Cantoira in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northern Italy. The church is only accessible via an arduous trek up hundreds of hewn stairs.
The site had a votive pillar erected in 1440 and dedicated to Saint Christina of Bolsena. Tradition holds that a shepherd, accosted by wolves, was rescued after the apparition of the Saint dispersed the predators. The pillar is part of the choir at the right of the entrance. The mountain-top localization of the shrine has some similarities to the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy.
The first chapel was erected by citizens of both the town of Ceres and Cantoira, and both disputed the site. The interior has some 15th-century frescoes.
References:The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.