Tirano and Valtellina
Tirano is an Italian town of about 9,000 people in the province of Sondrio in Lombardy. It is famous for the dedicated Sanctuary of Madonna and for the picturesque Bernina railway line. Tirano enjoys an excellent strategic position in Valtellina. It's near Switzerland and St. Moritz, Sondrio and Valmalenco, Bormio , Livigno and the high Valtellina, which therefore allows it to be a starting point for these famous tourist destinations.

Sanctuary of the Madonna di Tirano

The history of this Sanctuary begins on September 29th 1504 when Mario Omodei, a farmer who was working his fields, appeared Virgin Mary.
To whom he said:

Mario, Mario! Good you will have. Go to Tirano, and ask those people to build, in this place, a church in honor of my Holy Name.

Mario did as he was asked, before a small chapel was born and in 1523 the Sanctuary of Tirano was consecrated by Pope Pius XII.
 

Red train of the Bernina

The Bernina Express of the RhB Rhaetian Railway is the highest alpine railway linking North and South Europe. The route fits harmoniously into the Albula and Bernina mountain.

55 tunnels, 196 viaducts and slopes up to 70 per thousand. At an altitude of 2253 meters there is the highest point of the railway route, the Ospizio Bernina: here nature and culture merge to give life to the most charming trips to discover the Alps.

The route Thusis - Valposchiavo - Tirano is part of the UNESCO World Heritage - the wonder of the Alps.

Tirano, the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin and the Railway of Bernina in some images...