Relief Church

Descrizione

Depicted several times by the mastery of the brushes of the artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the small chapel is dedicated to the cult of Our Lady of the Snow and was part of a convent founded by the hermits of St. Augustine around 1350 and suppressed by Pope Innocent X in 1652.

Over the years, it has undergone numerous restorations that have shaped the current shape of the building.

The church, with its unique and asymmetrical prospectus, is extremely poor inside except for the majolica floor. Majolica tiles that are also found in the base of the stone cross that is located in the panoramic terrace with stone seats that adorns the churchyard and the parapet of the staircase leading to the church.

Inside, as a testimony to the great faith of sailors can be seen numerous votive offerings and some models of sailing ships. The crucifix found at sea. In the side chapel there is a wooden crucifix dating back to the end of the 15th century which is said to have been found at sea by a group of sailors on their way to Sardinia. Stuck by a storm on the island of Ischia decided to put it in the safety of the convent and then return to take it back as soon as the weather conditions had allowed.

According to the most recurring oral tradition, it is said that the sailors could not bring the crucifix outside because, incredibly, every time the entrance portal disappeared before their eyes. After three attempts, they decided to leave the sculpture in place, in memory of their transit and to protect all the sailors. The Madonna with a stick. On the main altar of the church there is a wooden statue depicting the Virgin Mary with a stick in her right hand, the devil crushed under her foot and a little boy clinging to the hem of her dress. This representation recalls a miracle occurred in 1306 when a woman invoked the Virgin to free her son from the devil. Our Lady answered the mother's prayer and appeared holding a stick. At the apparition of the Madonna the demon fled. The child ran and hid in the folds of the Virgin's clothes.