Considered to be among the main Marian shrines in the metropolitan area of Genoa and Liguria, it was built by the people of Rapallo between 1557 and 1558, together with the adjoining pilgrims' shelter, after the apparition of the Virgin Mary to the peasant Giovanni Chichizola on July 2, 1557, according to tradition.

[4] This recognition is reproduced on the municipal coat of arms, which bears, since November 28, 1948,[2] the Marian monogram, formed by the intertwined letters M and A, placed between the two griffins supporting the royal crown.

[6] According to local tradition, the Virgin appeared in the early afternoon of Friday, July 2, 1557, to the farmer Giovanni Chichizola, a native of San Giacomo di Canevale, a hamlet of the municipality of Coreglia Ligure, who was returning from the fruit and vegetable market in Genoa.

[7] Suddenly, he was awakened by a glow: to the peasant appeared a "lady dressed in blue and white and looking graceful and kind," as he textually reported later to the first commoners and the civil and religious authorities who had rushed to the mountain.

[7] Having recovered from the exceptional religious event, the farmer from Canevale then undertook the path back to the village of Rapallo to announce to the inhabitants the message entrusted to him by the Virgin Mary, and then recount what had happened.

He reached the citadel trying to attract the attention of the Rapallo inhabitants, but they, troubled by the clashes between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, initially disregarded the news and the words of the peasant who appeared in their eyes as a "dreamer" or a "fanatic."

[11] The parish priest, believing the words of the peasant (who was also heard and questioned by the civil authorities of the local municipality), went with a group of the faithful to the alleged site of the apparition, where they were able to ascertain the presence of the aforementioned Byzantine image, near the sudden and gushing spring of water.

This is the testimony of those who, tormented by demons, were freed from them, the blind saw again, the lame walked miraculously, many who were paralyzed went up there, took refuge with the Virgin, returned free from all evil by her virtue...[11]As religious worship of Our Lady of Montallegro and the Byzantine icon spread, it soon became necessary to build a suitable place of prayer and shelter for the ever-increasing influx of pilgrims.

At the same time, efforts were made to build the cobbled mule track between the village of San Bartolomeo di Borzoli and Mount Letho, an uphill wooded path about 4 km long.

[8] In 1772 the nearby guesthouse was enlarged, while in 1867 the artistic renovation of the church's interior took place, under the direction of master Descalzo from Chiavari, with the addition of new stucco, pilasters and capitals by Swiss architect Pietro Delucchi.

[8] Since December 20, 2009, a rack-and-pinion elevator has connected the roadway to the sanctuary square above, effectively eliminating the existing architectural barriers that made it difficult to access the religious building.

To the votes in favor was added the formal assent of the clergy of Rapallo and the religious communities of the monasteries and convents of St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare of Montefalco, and the Capuchins of Santa Margherita Ligure.

[8] This choice was confirmed by the members of the Magnificent Community of Rapallo: Not knowing how best to show our gratitude to our Heavenly Protectress to the whole world, we have gathered here to elect and proclaim the Blessed Virgin Mother of the True God, under the title of Our Lady of Mount Allegro, as the main patroness of our territory.

[8]The results of the Rapallo meetings were then brought to the attention of the archbishop of Genoa, Friar Nicolò Maria De Franchi, and the Sacred Congregation of Rites in Rome during the first months of 1739.

[8] On July 27, 1767, the Byzantine icon, henceforth the patron saint of the community of Rapallo and of the villages under its jurisdiction, was crowned "Queen" by the delegate of the Chapter of St. Peter in Rome, Monsignor Andrea Doria, in a solemn religious and civil ceremony.

On the occasion of the event, Pope Clement XIII granted a plenary indulgence to pilgrims traveling to the sanctuary, which was attached to the Roman basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

[8] Among the religious personalities who visited the sanctuary - erected into a minor basilica by a papal decree of August 5, 1942 by Pius XII[8] - are documented the presences of Genoese Cardinal Stefano Durazzo on May 26, 1638, St. Francis de Sales in 1591, Brigida Morello in 1639, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, St. Antonio Maria Gianelli, St. Francesco Maria da Camporosso, Archbishop Tommaso Reggio of Genoa in 1845, St. Agostino Roscelli, St. John Bosco, Cardinal Andrea Carlo Ferrari in 1907, and of then Monsignor Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, future Pope John XXIII - who celebrated the Pontifical Mass on October 2, 1922.

In any case, on May 29, 1657, the city council decided to go in procession to the sanctuary, a vow made by the community that is still fulfilled every year by the municipal authorities, and to donate a silver table to Our Lady.

The air offensive began and bundles of bombs were dropped, but instead of detonations, the people of Rapallo heard a dull noise and saw columns of water rising from the sea: all the bombers had missed their target due to a sudden gust of wind.

This led to the inevitable accusation of theft against the people of Rapallo and the immediate demand for the return of the icon, which, after a favorable ruling by the Court of the Republic of Genoa, had to be placed in the hands of the captain.

In the same year, the historian Antonio Molfino, in one of his writings, cites the popular devotion to this icon, which, together with the classical representation of the Marian apparition, was later taken up in many pictorial decorations of the houses in the center of Rapallo: In the district of Rapallo there is no convent or family that does not keep two or three of the holy images or portraits of Our Lady of Montallegro in their homes: many ships carry them as a faithful escort over the stern: Many of them stand out on the facades of palaces, on the doors of houses, on the corners, on the walls of gardens, in the streets, in the suburbs, in the villas and in other areas, with vague mottos.

[8]Inside the sanctuary and other adjoining spaces there are numerous ex-votos, written testimonies or simple drawings donated for alleged graces received from the Virgin who appeared on the hill of Montallegro.

The silver plate (56.8 x 51.7 cm) depicts Rapallo in the second half of the 18th century, from the Langano dock (the port area) to the Da Vigo tower, with an accurate representation of the ancient houses of the old town along the marina, the Porta delle Saline and the medieval bridge over the San Francesco stream.

The embossed silver foil (the work of Genoese engraver Luxardi and having the dimensions of 53.9 x 38.7 cm) depicts an eighteenth-century Rapallo village, with a precise detail of the city included between the mouth of the San Francesco and the Monastery of the Poor Clares.

—(Austro-Sardinian ex-voto)Another depiction of the Rapallo coast, from the nineteenth-century period, can be seen from the third silver foil that the civic administration donated to Our Lady of Montallegro after the alleged liberation from cholera.

[16] On March 22, 1779 the icon of the Virgin, surrounded by angels holding the crown above the reproduction of the miraculous cliff, was added to the casket, while in 1782 the municipal coat of arms, also in silver, also was set on the ark.

[20] Particularly evocative is the last evening of the festivities, July 3, when a long procession composed of the bearers of Christ and the silver ark with the Madonna of Montallegro crosses the city center and the waterfront.

In addition to a special public transport service (buses) from the Rapallo terminal, it is possible to reach the sanctuary by cable car (inaugurated in 1934),[22] which is open almost all year round and was renovated in the 2000s with the most modern safety systems.