Barbana, Italy

Barbana is a small island located at the northern end of the Grado Lagoon, near Trieste in north-east Italy.

It is the site of the Santuario di Barbana, an ancient Marian shrine, whose origins date back to 582 when Elia, the Patriarch of Aquileia, built a church near the hut of a hermit from Treviso named Barbanus.

The island, which can be easily reached by ferry from nearby Grado, is populated by a small community of Franciscan friars.

The foundation of the shrine originates from an image of the Virgin Mary carried in by the sea and found at the foot of an elm after a fierce storm.

In the wood near the church a small chapel (the Cappella dell'apparizione) was built in 1854 in the place where the original image of Mary was found.