santuario, mariano, Santa Maria del Bando

At the foot of Monte Maggiore, this church was built on a spot where, during the Republic of Amalfi, official proclamations were issued. The name ‘Bando’ almost certainly derives from this practice: from here, the authorities announced decrees, death sentences, and other news that concerned the populace. Given the marble fragments preserved inside, it is thought the church was originally an early medieval rock-cut church.

Nearby is the ‘Grotta di Masaniello’, traditionally said to be the last hiding place of the Neapolitan rebel leader before his assassination in 1647. The whitewashed house below, in a similarly picturesque position, would have been the home of his mother’s family, and was sketched by German Grand Tour painters. Recent clearing of scrub and weeds on the terraced slopes beside the grotto has yielded surprises both geological and man-made, suggesting the site has more to reveal.

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