The Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria in Provenzano (Illustrious Collegiate of Saint Mary in Provenzano) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Siena. The church is consecrated to the mystery of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth.
The image of the Madonna of Provenzano is preserved in this sanctuary and it’s venerated under the title of Advocata nostra: in her honor every year on the 2nd of July the Palio is run.
The Insigne Collegiata di SAnta Maria in Provenzano is, after the Cathedral, the second most important place of worship in the City: Marian sanctuary, parish, Palio‘s church anche shrine preserving the most authentic traditions bound to Siena and its Contrade.
From 1611, it preserve the icon of the “Madonna dei Miracoli“, populary known as Madonna di Provenzano as the church is located in the district where in ancient times the family fo the famous medieval army leader Provenzano Salvani, hero of the Montaperti battle (1260), lived.
The worship of Madonna di Provenzano developed right after the fall of the Republic, a dark time for Siena, as dark as the streets around the area in which now the Collegiata is located, however the people of Siena were able, through it, to give an imperischable signal of reaction. Beside, they formalized the July 2nd’s Palio as an institution.