Italy’s shrines · YOUR QUESTION, ANSWERED

Where is St. Gianna Beretta Molla buried?

By Andrew McGilly, Founder of Bold Pilgrim · Updated 2026-10-08

St. Gianna Beretta Molla is buried in Mesero, a small town about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Magenta, west of Milan. The Holy See's biography records her burial in the Mesero cemetery, where her tomb is in the Molla family chapel. In the town itself, a church dedicated to her is the Diocesan Sanctuary of the Family, the center of her devotion. In Magenta, pilgrims visit the Basilica of San Martino, where she married Pietro Molla on September 24, 1955. Her feast is April 28.

Mesero is where she opened her medical clinic in 1950; Magenta is where she was born in 1922; and at Ponte Nuovo di Magenta, where the family lived and where she died, the church of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio is part of her story. The Mesero church has been a diocesan sanctuary since the years just after her canonization.

Good to know before you go: the tomb is at the cemetery, not inside the sanctuary church, and parish pilgrimages pray at both, so allow time for the two places. The towns are small and quiet, and this is a visit for prayer more than for sightseeing. Opening times for the sanctuary church and its liturgies are set locally and were not confirmed for this answer, so ask the sanctuary before you travel.

This question may be part of your discernment

Pro-Life PilgrimageA pilgrimage of prayer for human life at its most fragile, for unborn children and their mothers and fathers, for families and for anyone grieving a child, made in Mexico before Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom St. John Paul II entrusted the cause of life.

All pilgrimages by spiritual purpose

Sources & further readingHoly See: biography of Gianna Beretta Molla (canonization, 16 May 2004)Avvenire: Gianna Beretta Molla, testimone della vita (April 2012)Avvenire: La festa di Gianna Beretta Molla (April 2024)CatholicPhilly: St. Gianna feast day Mass at Nativity of Our Lord Church (April 2026)Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse: Saint Gianna Guild Parrocchia di Rescaldina: Pellegrinaggio a S. Gianna (September 2022 programme; prayer at the tomb in the Mesero cemetery)EWTN: St. Gianna Beretta Molla John Paul II, Homily at the canonization of six saints (16 May 2004)

Official sources cover institutional information. Suggested pacing and itinerary choices are planning guidance. Check current arrangements for your travel dates.

Where is St. Gianna Beretta Molla buried?

Related questions, answered

Is there a shrine of St. Gianna in the United States?

When was St. Gianna canonized?

What do Catholics ask St. Gianna to pray for?

This question may be part of your discernment