Santa Maria Addolorata del Pilastro

The Church of Santa Maria Addolorata is the parish church of the Pilastro district, located on the outskirts of Este, in the province and diocese of Padua. The religious building belongs to the vicariate of Este and has been an important spiritual point of reference for the local community for centuries. History The origins of Marian devotion in Pilastro date back at least to the beginning of the fifteenth century, when there was already a venerated image of the Madonna painted on a small column. In 1504, a small wooden church was built to house the icon. Next to the chapel, on the initiative of some Servite Fathers, a convent was built which was then suppressed in 1652. After the closure of the convent, the small church became an autonomous curacy dependent on the parish of Este. It is not clear when the current church was built, but it is known that it was consecrated on August 1, 1784. Subsequently, on September 8, 1853, the building was elevated to a parish church, acquiring a central role for the neighborhood. Interior The icon of the Madonna and Child is kept in the church's presbytery, which has always been the object of deep veneration by the community. This fifteenth-century fresco, the work of an anonymous artist, is framed by an elegant eighteenth-century white stucco structure. A miraculous event that occurred in June 1491 further increased the cult surrounding the image: some witnesses reported seeing the fresco, then placed in a capital, change color. The population interpreted the phenomenon as a sign of the Madonna's desire to have a church built in her honor in that very place.