santuario, mariano, diocesano, Santuario Madonna di Portosalvo

The Chiesa di Santa Maria di Porto Salvo in Parghelia was built in 1745, its white façade among the earliest neoclassical church architecture in southern Italy. The title ‘Portosalvo’ links this sanctuary directly to the town’s seafaring tradition: local mariners entrusted their safety at sea to the Virgin, as archival documents record and as the many ex-voto offerings in the sacristy still testify. The church belongs to the parish of Sant’Andrea Apostolo and was elevated to a Diocesan Marian Sanctuary by Monsignor Domenico Tarcisio Cortese on 31 May 1999. The principal feast day falls on the second Sunday of September, drawing a large influx of pilgrims and faithful. Baroque in period, the sanctuary stands as a quiet, maritime-minded place of devotion, its stones and silver votives speaking of gratitude for voyages safely ended.

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