santuario, diocesano, Santuario Diocesano San Francesco di Paola

In the Calabrian town of Lamezia Terme Sambiase, this Renaissance-era sanctuary has long been a spiritual anchor and a destination for pilgrims. Dedicated to San Francesco di Paola, a 15th-century hermit and founder of the Minims, the church was already noted in the 1594 ‘Bollario’ of the Nicastro bishopric. By 1597, Sambiase had two convents and the Abbey of the Holy Forty; the sanctuary was one of them. The devastating earthquake of 1638 reshaped much, but the sanctuary endured as a focal point of local devotion. In 1664, Pope Urban VIII formally declared San Francesco the principal patron of Sambiase. The main feast on 2 June is a drawn-out affair: from 23 May, the saint’s statue is carried to the mother church of San Pancrazio for a novena, returning on the feast day itself after a procession through the streets, the lighting of a votive candle, the delivery of a golden key, and fireworks. A place of quiet pilgrimage and exuberant annual ritual.

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