“The path that leads from Fonni to the mountain first runs past the foot of a small hill two kilometres from the village, on which the Church of Nostra Signora del Monte stands; every year, a big celebration takes place there with a large crowd”. This description is by General Alberto Della Marmora, one of the most prestigious ‘travellers’ in 19th-century Sardinia, in the passage on his ‘Itinerary of the island of Sardinia’ in which he describes the landscapes around Gennargentu. The sanctuary is less than five kilometres south of Fonni and is worth visiting, for various reasons: along with the Madonna della Neve (Madonna of the Snow) by Desulo – on the Tascusì pass -, Nostra Signora di Gonare between Orani and Sarule and Madonna della Neve on Monte Limbara in Tempio Pausania, it is the church located at the highest altitude in Sardinia (about a thousand metres). Furthermore, from the nearby lookout, you’ll see a breathtaking view embracing the peaks of Gennargentu, the basin of Lake Govossai and the Pratobello plain.

It is not just the surrounding landscape that makes Nostra Signora de su Monte – or also Madonna della Visitazione, two other names by which the church is known -, a stop not to be missed during a visit to Fonni: next to the church there are two rows of cumbessias or muristenes, typical lodgings for pilgrims and novena participants, especially during the festival also mentioned by General Della Marmora. The celebrations are traditionally organised by families from Fonni and include a novena, a procession and folklore shows. The ‘care’ dedicated to the church by private individuals has ancient origins: around the 17th century there was only a small chapel with a simulacrum of the Madonna, but later on it was extended thanks to the activity of lay families, who also handled its administration. In the first half of the 20th century, its custody passed to the diocese of Nuoro: the original building was demolished in 1976 and rebuilt in its current form.

Nostra Signora del Monte is one of the stops along La Via dei Santuari (Route of the Sanctuaries), through twenty novenas in the centre-north of the Island, from Cabras to Santa Teresa Gallura. You can also include it in an itinerary for discovering the archaeological and natural treasures of Fonni. A few steps away from the sanctuary, the remains of a nuraghe of the same name emerge, while the main evidence of the Bronze Age is found to the east, near the Correboi pass: the necropolis of Madau and the Nuragic Sanctuary of Gremanu. Along the way, on the right, the peaks of Monte Spada and Bruncu Spina stand out against the sky.