santuario, diocesano, Maria Santissima di Costantinopoli (popolarmente denominata "Cona")

In the heart of the Sila Piccola National Park, this sanctuary dedicated to Maria Santissima di Costantinopoli, or simply ‘Cona’, as local tradition has it, stands as a quiet landmark of Baroque-era devotion. The original church likely appeared in the second half of the 1700s, a modest structure with a small hermitage for its keeper. It has since been much altered: raised and lengthened in 1813, its altar decorated and floor replaced in 1854, then lifted another metre in 1939, when the bell tower was rebuilt. In 1988, during the Marian Year, the Archbishop of Crotone-Santa Severina formally recognised it as a diocesan sanctuary. The site remains a focus for pilgrimages, especially for the principal feast on the last Sunday of August, preceded by nine days of prayer, and a larger celebration held every seven years.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.