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.

Sorso is a big rural town (14,000 inhabitants) in the province of Sassari. It is situated at 10 Km. from the  city of Sassari in the historic region called Romangia, the beautiful site of vineyards and olive-groves, of which it is the main centre.

Sorso is at 3 Km. from the seaside; its sandy coasts abound with dunes and rich vegetation of pine trees, junipers and palm trees. Nearby is the Stagno di Platamona, a pond renown for its rare ornithological species. The site presents remains of great interest from an archaeological point of view, including the ruins of some nuraghi, which testify to the presence of ancient civilisations dating back to the prehistoric and the Nuragic eras.

The villa of  Santa Filidigga, close to the sea, is from the Roman age; this was also inhabited at the time of the Byzantine and the barbaric invasions. From the X to the XIII century (periodo giudicale), Sorso was the main centre of the so-called "curatoria", the administrative centre of Romangia, that belonged to the Giudicato di Torres.

Hence, its annexation to the Comune di Sassari (Sassari's City Council). Following the Aragonese invasion in 1323, Sorso became the chief town of the Encontrada de Romangia, and it was divided into large estates administered by the Aragonese aristocracy.

On 19 October 1436, the estates were given to  Gonario Gambella, an aristocratic citizen of Sassari. On 27 June 1444, the Encontrada became Baronia, and the family of Gambella gained the title of barons. Following the death of Rosa Gambella in 1483, a long lawsuit began for the allotment, which ended in 1596 only, when the estate was given to the heirs of Maddalena, Rosa's sister.  In 1527, Sorso was invaded and  sacked by the French army.

In 1646, due to the wedding of Giovanni Battista Amat with Maddalena Deliperi Gambella, the estate became property of the Aragonese family of Amat. In 1652, the blight dramatically reduced the population of Sorso and of the rest of Sardinia. In 1720, the island was annexed to the Kingdom of Savoy.

At that time, Sorso engaged in a lawsuit against the Amat family that was resolved in 1839, with the end of the feudal system in Sardinia. Sorso  fight against the feudal system began in 1793.  Led by the patriot Giovanni Maria Angioy, the townsmen took actively part in the numerous insurrections subsequently failed, which is why the land was then subject to the feudal law of the barons and the Savoy family.

After 1839, Sorso became one of the most flourishing centres of the North of Sardinia thanks to its agricultural wealth based on vineyards and olive-groves. In 1846, Salvatore Farina, famous writer and co-founder of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, was born in Sorso.

In the XX century a number of important men were also born in Sorso. Amongst them the painter Pietro Antonio Manca, and the anthropologist Fabio Frassetto, famous for his studies on the remains of Dante Alighieri and S. Domenico Guzman.