In the 16th century, on the hill there was already a Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso, a place of pilgrimage and great Marian devotion. Around 1635, the institution in charge of the sanctuary, the so-called ‘fabbriceria’, decided to build some chapels. They represented episodes of the life of Mary and Jesus and were located along an ascending path from the village of Ossuccio to the sanctuary.
The date is uncertain, yet in 1644 the bishop of Como, Lazzaro Carafino, asked the administrators not to proceed with the construction of the chapels, without first showing him the project and the related costs. This proves that the work had already started, but, probably, a unitary project did not exist yet.
This is how the history of the Sacro Monte of Ossuccio begins.