santuario, "in perpetuum", Santa Maria della Consolazione

In the heart of the Parco Naturale Regionale delle Serre, the Santuario di Santa Maria della Consolazione stands as a quiet repository of local faith and history. This single-nave church, now a sanctuary “in perpetuum,” was originally dedicated to Santa Caterina before its identity shifted. The change came in 1721, when a mason repairing a crumbling wall uncovered a painted image of the Madonna and Child beneath old plaster. Startled, he struck the canvas with his hammer and tried to cover it again with lime, but the lime would not stick, an event that soon drew the attention of the devout. The wooden statue of the Madonna and Child now on the altar was crowned in 1964, and the church’s deeper roots reach back to at least 1540, when a bishop’s decree mentioned the rights of this parish. A place of layered devotion, where a chance discovery reshaped a community’s sacred centre.

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