santuario, SS.mo Crocifisso del Soccorso

On the outskirts of Caltagirone, where a small church dedicated to Santa Maria del Perpetuo Soccorso once stood, its ruins later serving as stables, rises the Santuario del Crocifisso, a place long known for its spiritual pull. In the eighteenth century, fragments of painted plaster bearing the image of Christ crucified with Saint Bridget kneeling were discovered among those stable walls. The pieces were reassembled on a stone slab, and the oil painting drew such devotion that a chapel was built to house it, and then a church, inaugurated in 1708.

The main feast is held on the third Sunday of September, preceded by a pilgrimage that begins before dawn on each of the five preceding Fridays. This sacred walk, some four kilometres long, was originally marked by five wooden crosses placed by Antonio Centorbi, each offering a partial indulgence. Later, Canon Paolo Salomone added fifteen chapels dedicated to the Rosary mysteries. More recently, Don Innocenzo Mangano created a new sacred route, focused on the discovery of the image and its particular spiritual message.

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