Built as ex-voto
It’s a Marian sanctuary built in the seventeenth century on an important medieval route in the municipality of Castellaro.
Legend has it that the building was made as an ex-voto by the inhabitant of Castellaro Andrea Anfosso who was captured by the Barbareschi pirates in 1561. Once transferred to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, he managed to escape and return to his hometown by crafting a boat that used a sacred image of the Madonna as sail.
Linked to the legend of Anfosso, on the walls of the sanctuary can be found dozens of “ex-voto” as evidence of acts of faith and graces received.
Testo a cura di Corrado Agnese, immagini di Nicola Ferrarese, Corrado Agnese.