The area which is still called "Le Grazie" is a small village in the council of Curtatone, famous along with Montanara for the battle of 1848 of the First War of Independence, in which volunteer students from Tuscany also participated. It is situated 12 kilometres outside Mantova, and just a few hundred yards from the main road leading to Cremona and Milan. It is built virtually on the banks of the lake and the network of small river canals that constitute the upper part of what is known as "Lago Superiore", the largest of the three lakes formed by the River Mincio, that surrounds Mantova, following the great feats of hydraulic engineering and reclamation work undertaken by Alberto Pitentino towards the end of the XIII on behalf of the Municipality of Mantova. Even before the year 1000 this area was a small promontory within an intricate maze of marshes, courses of water, river channels and fairly dense forests, rich with game, fauna and fish. It is not known exactly when or by whom a tabernacle with a table supporting an image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus in her arms was erected. It seems that it was a religious symbol that was highly venerated by the local people - poor fishermen and wood hunters who led an existence alternating between hunger and illnesses of every kind.Malaria was rampant and these humble peoples and their only consolation was their religious faith. With the passing of the years, with stone laid upon stone, the tabernacle gradually became a small chapel and the holy image was taken inside to protect it against the elements. This object of devotion to the faithful began to acquire a certain fame for its miraculous nature. Its fame spread far into the surrounding territory, and an increasing number of pilgrims flocked to this very humble place of worship.

Vannozzo Posio