In 1150 the thaumaturge image of Maria SS was prodigiously found by a shepherd boy. Of Carpignano on the site of the current Sanctuary.
The precious icon was immediately the object of veneration.
In 1859 the population of Grottaminarda, of which Carpignano is a fraction, having obtained rain after a period of drought, made a vow to build a new church, which was then inaugurated in 1861 and belonged to the Teutonic Order.
In 1901 the new Sanctuary was entrusted to the Mercedarian Fathers who b read more
In 1150 the thaumaturge image of Maria SS was prodigiously found by a shepherd boy. Of Carpignano on the site of the current Sanctuary.
The precious icon was immediately the object of veneration.
In 1859 the population of Grottaminarda, of which Carpignano is a fraction, having obtained rain after a period of drought, made a vow to build a new church, which was then inaugurated in 1861 and belonged to the Teutonic Order.
In 1901 the new Sanctuary was entrusted to the Mercedarian Fathers who built the Convent there.
In 1911 it was erected as a parish. The Sanctuary In August 1945, the Madonna was solemnly crowned. In 1980 the dome and the vault of the Church collapsed and the frescoes were lost. The church was rebuilt and opened for worship in 1988. A reception house was built next to it.
The church was almost entirely rebuilt after the 1980 earthquake.
Today it shows a simple gabled façade with a stone portal and an upper niche with an image of the Madonna. Flanked is the bell tower, on five levels, with oculi, large vaulted windows at the height of the cell and civic clock.
Inside the building, with a single nave, behind the altar is preserved the precious painting on wood depicting the Virgin and Child in her arms, dated by some scholars to the mid-12th century.
It is a very ancient Marian icon, which has undergone several restorations during its history starting from 1600: today it
it constitutes one of the few representations of "black Madonnas" still preserved in places of worship in the province of Avellino.
The strong link to the spirit of charity and devotion, which the Mercedarian Fathers transmitted with their presence, and the profound devotion to the Madonna constitute the spiritual and religious patrimony of the Grotese community of faithful, linked to the small sanctuary of worship, where pilgrims arrive from entire Ufita Valley. read less
