The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Riva (the Virgin of the Shore) was built in 1662 following a miracle which occurred on 27 June 1657, when (according to the legend) the Virgin depicted in the painting of the “Virgin nursing the Christ child” in a votive shrine began to weep blood.

It was decided to commemorate such an important event by building a sanctuary around the shrine. Work started in 1662 but was never finished due to lack of funds.

A fine altar with the image of the “Virgin nursing the Christ child”, removed from its original location on a wall and transferred onto canvas by the painter Anselmi of Milan, can be seen in the church.

There are a number of paintings on the walls, almost all of them from other churches in Angera, such as “St Charles on a visit to the valleys” and the two paintings of the Ascension and the Assumption of the Virgin attributed to Bortolomeo Roverio, probably painted in 1623.

The pilasters and the stucco capitals were restored in 1980-1981 by the architect Vincenti of Milan, giving the walls a lighter colour.

The Madonna della Riva has for centuries been an object of pilgrimage and is a focus for the devotion to Mary of the people of Angera. Her festival is the first Sunday of July every year.