The Shrine of the Holy Virgin of Noli Me Tollere was built on the very spot where, tradition  holds it, the statue was first found. The sanctuary replaced a church from the XIII century, and it took long to be completed.

The new building is a Capuchin church of the XVII century. There is one barrel-vaulted nave, with three communicating chapels on each side.  The high altar is made of marble, wood and polychromatic plaster, with a central niche where the statue is kept. Access to the choir is from either side of the altar. The choir is at the back, in a rectangular room with mahogany seats and floor.

On the walls are big paintings from the XVII century, representing religious themes and of a great value. The vault is divided into three sections separated by pointed arches. In 1936, the vault was painted in fresco representing crucial episodes from the history of the Virgin: from Her first apparition, to the creation of the sanctuary and two Capuchins, and finally the finding of the statue on the olive-tree. The main arch shows large block letters reading NOLI ME TOLLERE.

Three of the six chapels present wooden altars of great value carved by a lego carpintero, a lay Capuchin carpenter. On the right wall, as we enter, is a stone fixed on the wall: it is a third of the original marble slab bearing the words Noli Me Tollere.

Throughout the centuries, all pilgrims have kissed and touched the sacred stone. The hut-like faade is made of a two-coloured type of marble with horizontal slabs of black and white.

The main entrance presents two fluted pilasters with small capitals, the lintel supports a pointed arch also divided into two pointed arches by two fluted mullions. On 20 December 1997, the extant wooden door was substituted with a bronze doorway. The two-leafed decorated door presents some bas-reliefs with a decorated small ogive on top. 

THE PATRONS

The Womens Committee of the Patrons of the Sanctuary was founded in 1964 by Father Massimo da Pabillonis, the Father Superior of the monastery. Any woman can adhere to the association. The President of the Committee is the Father Superior of the monastery. The women patrons, also called "zelatrici" are in charge of the sanctuary.