santuario, diocesano, Maria SS.ma delle Grazie

The Santuario Diocesano di Maria Santissima delle Grazie rises in Castelvetere sul Calore, a church of the Renaissance period that serves as the spiritual heart of the community. This is a place of profound devotion to the Virgin, known beyond the diocese's borders, drawing pilgrims each year, especially for two annual festivals on 28 April and 2 July. The bond between the townspeople and their patron saint is an old one, marked by acts of protection and gratitude.

The 28 April celebration is distinctive. It originates in a donation, likely in the late 1500s, by an elderly local woman of a wheat field, with the stipulation that the grain be baked into bread and given to the poor. Preparations begin in March, when the community gathers wood from communal forestland to fire the oven for baking tortani, blessed bread taralli. Volunteers from the festival committee then carry the bundles to a storehouse by the social oven, a space used solely for this purpose.

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