santuario, mariano, diocesano, Santuario Maria Santissima di Pugliano

The church of Maria Santissima di Pugliano stands in the centre of Bianco, set slightly askew from the piazza that shares its name. Its neobaroque façade rises in two vertical orders of pilasters: the lower, topped with Ionic capitals and a projecting cornice; the upper, interrupted by that cornice, continues above to form the base for two side pinnacles and the scrolls of a bell-gable. The central axis is marked by a rectangular portal, flanked by angled pilasters supporting an entablature, a round-arched opening with archivolt, and the bell-gable itself.

Inside, a single nave is covered by a roof with exposed wooden trusses, ending in a semicircular apse with a vault. A cantoria balcony, supported by two masonry columns, sits above the entrance. Stucco decoration runs along the nave walls, the balcony, and the apse basin. In 2002, the church was formally recognised as a diocesan Marian sanctuary.

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