San Luca Sky Experience

At the entrance to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca stands the desk of a public association, and behind it begins an old, narrow spiral staircase. It is difficult to pass one another on its turns, so small groups are admitted upstairs and given binoculars. The staircase leads to an exterior platform at the base of the dome, high above the slope. The admission fee helps pay for the restoration and upkeep of the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.

On April seventh, two thousand seventeen, Fabio Mauri, chairman of the Bologna public association Succede solo a Bologna APS—“This Happens Only in Bologna”—opened to visitors a previously inaccessible route inside the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. Mauri wanted to let people into closed historic spaces and maintain them with donations. One hundred ten steps of an old spiral staircase led from the nave through the attic to a small exterior ledge at the base of the dome, about forty-two meters above the hill. This is how the panoramic terrace of San Luca Sky Experience came into being.

The terrace took its name from the sanctuary beneath its dome, while the English words were added by the creators of the tourist route.

The old staircase immediately set a limit on Mauri’s idea. It is difficult to pass one another on it, so volunteers admitted small groups upstairs and handed out binoculars. On the morning of the opening, the presentation had not yet ended, but one hundred ten people were already waiting below. Visitors were sold a card for five euros; the money was passed on to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca for restoration. The association lived on donations, and every newly opened site was meant to help pay for its own upkeep.

Two years later, about one hundred eight thousand people had climbed to the terrace. The association’s present desk at the entrance and the same narrow spiral staircase preserve the arrangement devised by Mauri: visitors gain access to a previously closed level, and the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca receives funds for its upkeep.