santuario, diocesano, Santuario Diocesano Maria SS.ma del Rosario

In the main square of Cittanova, this substantial Baroque church holds a central place in local religious life. It was built on the site of an earlier church dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario, which was destroyed in the devastating earthquake of 1783. The present sanctuary was begun in 1823, its foundation stone laid in May of that year. The architectural execution was entrusted to Francesco Morani, with his three sons undertaking the stuccowork and internal altars; the painting was completed later. The church became a parish in 1953, and in 1999 it was formally elevated to the status of a diocesan sanctuary. The cult of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary draws significant numbers of the faithful here, especially in October, with the principal feast on 1 November marked by a procession through the streets. The sanctuary stands as a testament to the persistence of local devotion through the region’s seismic history.

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