santuario, mariano, diocesano, Santuario Nome Santissimo di Maria

On the right bank of the fiumara Amusa, in the Crochi district of Caulonia, stands a church dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Mary. Here, the Virgin is venerated under the title ‘Santa Maria di Crochi’. This place of worship was formally recognised as a diocesan Marian sanctuary in 2002, a designation that places it within a long tradition of local pilgrimage sites across Italy, where devotion and community life intertwine.

The sanctuary’s principal feast takes place on the second Sunday of September. The religious observance is inseparable from a strong folkloric spirit: a market fair showcases local Calabrian produce, and characteristic dishes include goat meat and ‘caddara’ with its frittole, alongside sausages sold raw or grilled. The Saturday night is enlivened by fireworks and the traditional ‘ballata del ciuccio’. Until the mid-1960s, on the eve of the feast, people from the surrounding areas would light bonfires on the riverbanks, a vanished custom that once lit the way to the sanctuary.

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