santuario, mariano, Maria SS.ma ad Nives (Madonna di Schiavonea)

On the seafront at Schiavonea, a hamlet of Corigliano Calabro, stands the Sanctuary of Maria SS.ma ad Nives, known locally as the 'Madonna Nera'. This Baroque church serves as more than a place of worship: it houses a conference hall and pilgrim accommodation, while the Redemptorist fathers, who arrived in 2008, run the parish and conduct popular missions across the diocese. A migrants' canteen has also been opened.

Local tradition recounts how one night, a mounted sentinel named Antonio Ruffo saw the Virgin seated upon a chair on the sea, her arms outstretched and her face dark. She declared herself the Madonna di Schiavonea and requested her image be painted for the church of San Leonardo. A Corigliano painter named Scamardella attempted to copy the vision under Ruffo's direction, but the Virgin's face was mysteriously completed, and a bell rang to summon the faithful. The resulting effigy, adorned with jewels donated by local nobility, was carried in solemn procession to San Leonardo on 13 October 1648.

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