Starting in front of the Co-cathedral and turning left onto Via Spagni, come downhill till we reach the major shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. In the twelfth century, the shrine was only a little niche in the Montalcino town walls near the Porta al Corniolo (“Dogwood Gate”). In it had been placed, to defend the city, a sacred image painted in tempera showing the Virgin and Child next to Saints Peter and Paul. The veneration of an enormous number of faithful who came in thanksgiving for grace received led the communal government of Montalcino to resolve in 1330 to build a big church. It took the title of Santa Maria del Soccorso (Saint Mary of Succor) after the battle of 1553, during which the people of Montalcino, under siege by the Landsknecht army sent by Emperor Charles V, won a great military victory which they attributed to Our Lady’s protection. Due to the great devotion of the faithful, in the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the building became even richer and larger, with the addition of elaborate baroque altars and the painting of the Crucifixion by Francesco Vanni. In 1625 the bell tower was built, and only in 1829 was the white travertine façade built that is admired today. In 1731, it was decreed that every year on 8 May, the Feast of the Coronation of the Virgin would be celebrated. In 1913, the bishop of Montalcino declared Our . . .