santuario, mariano, Santuario Mariano Maria SS.ma di Costantinopoli

In Rende, this sanctuary dedicated to Maria Santissima di Costantinopoli began as a modest chapel to San Sebastiano in 1656. The cult that grew around it soon led to the formation of a confraternity, which spread the devotion through the countryside, establishing small chapels or ‘cone’. The church itself, built on older foundations, was elevated to a sanctuary in the late 20th century.

The veneration of Maria SS. di Costantinopoli is a rare survival of Byzantine tradition in Calabria, persisting after the Normans had aligned the region’s churches with Rome. Its focus is a striking painting on copper: a frontal, composed Madonna, graceful and still. Local tradition holds the image to be acheropita, not made by human hands.

The principal feast falls at Pentecost, with other observances through the year. The sanctuary stands as a quiet testament to a persistent, local strand of faith, its origins stretching back through the Baroque to something far older.

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