santuario, diocesano, regionale, Santa Maria del Bosco

A Norman church, twice a sanctuary. Two kilometres from the Certosa, the Santuario di Santa Maria del Bosco, also called Santa Maria de Nemore, marks the very cradle of the eremitical spirituality that brought Bruno of Cologne and his companions to these Calabrian woods. Dedicated to the Assumption, it was consecrated in 1094 before the Norman Count Roger and his people. Since then, it has been much remodelled, each intervention perhaps an attempt to keep alive that original, contemplative silence. The church houses the image of Mary and the remains of Bruno’s earliest followers. First declared a diocesan Marian sanctuary in 1991, it was later elevated to a regional sanctuary, a recognition of the growing number of pilgrims drawn to this austere, wooded place. The architecture may have changed, but the quiet at its heart remains Norman.

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