Santuario Santa Maria, Stignano

Check in: 11:00 (11:00am) - 19:00 (7:00pm) (no arrivals allowed outside this window)

Check out: 07:00 (7:00am) - 10:00 (10:00am)

History

According to legend, it is one of the first Marian sanctuaries in Foggia and one of the most remarkable pieces of architecture of the 1500s. Located on the ancient Via Francigena at the intersection with the current SS n. 272, in a valley of great charm. An ancient legend tells that St. Francis on his return from the East passed through this valley and blessed its fruits in 1216.

Rich in history and renowned for its art, it has its origins in medieval times. In fact, her name is found for the first time in a document dated 21st of September 1231 in the Naples State Archives, attesting to the already existing cult of the Virgin. The traditional piety, in fact, tells of a blind man in the area (Leonardo Di Falco) who, in his various wanderings to beg for food, was surprised in his sleep by the voice of a beautiful woman, who at the same time, he restored his sight and indicated the presence of one of his simulacrums hidden on the branches of a sturdy oak. The miracle worker would have immediately informed the nearby inhabitants of Castelpagano who, struck by the double prodigy, rushed in procession to the place, and built a small church in the place of the apparition of the Virgin, precisely in the second arch of the left aisle for those entering the temple.

The two paintings on the main entrance drum, which are probably the work of the seventeenth century, portray the miracle and the consequent discovery. In addition to the beautiful legend there is the true story which roughly tells that in that period it was ordered to destroy the icons and statues that were in all the churches, so some monks hid the statue of the Madonna on an oak that was right there. where the current sanctuary is, until it was found by a shepherd from Castelpagano who grazed in the valley. And then the legend was born. According to historians, the church was one of the many oratories that dotted the slopes and peaks that lead from Stignano to Castelpagano (of which you can still admire the ruins of that of the Holy Trinity on the summit behind the convent and of the other of S. Agostino towards Castelpagano). All these oratories find the historical explanation in the fact that they were the first places of rest and comfort for the numerous Romei who stationed here before tackling the remaining tiring way to the Archangel's Grotto. Or one of the many hermitages of spiritual perfection and security in the turbulent decline of the Roman Empire and the spread of the barbarian invasions, the rise of the new religion and the spread of monasticism.

In 1500, the beauty of the place and the prodigious growth of the miraculous Virgin urged the Cistercian fra Salvatore Scalzo who, anxious for a reform in his order, abandoned his brother monks of the abbey of S. Giovanni in Lamis (the current convent of S. Matteo) and retired here, founding a new association and building a convent next to the small church. With the help of the well-known feudal lord Ettore Pappacoda of Naples, he destroyed the old oratory and built this new church in 1515. The merit was almost exclusively of Pappacoda who, where the ancient entrance of the oratory was on the current eastern wall to his credit the epigraph that is still read there today. Failed the reform attempt by Brother Salvatore Scalzo, in 1560 the Medici pope, Pius IV, entrusted the sanctuary to the observant friars minor. The church was then declared distinguished and endowed with special indulgences. The Friars Minor also increased the factory, completing the church in 1613 with the construction of the Transept, the Dome, the Choir and the Bell Tower in 1615. The church was consecrated in 1679 by Vincenzo Maria Orsini, archbishop of Manfredonia who later became pope with the name of Benedict XIII.

The story tells that in 1774 a sperm whale ran aground near Rodi Garganico and the inhabitants of the suburb frightened by the harmless "sea monster" invoked the help of the Madonna. To thank the Virgin for the grace received, they brought to the convent two large bones kept in the sacristy of the sanctuary until the latter was subject to several thefts.

Until the mid-nineteenth century it was one of the largest Marian sanctuaries in the Capitanata. The festival, which was celebrated on August the 15th, drew considerable crowds throughout the summer; on that occasion the bishop of Lucera, in whose territory the sanctuary fell, sent twenty priests to serve as confessors. In the first decades of the seventeenth century the convent, together with that of San Matteo, became a novitiate of the Franciscan province of Sant'Angelo. At the end of the same century, Father Salvatore da Morrone nel Sannio, of holy life, was superior. In 1686 a persistent drought had drained all water reserves putting the community of the Friars, which was not small, in serious difficulty. Father Salvatore had recourse to the Virgin of Stignano and, one day, after having prayed with confidence, he found the cistern of the second cloister filled with fresh water. The fame of this miraculous water spread everywhere so that the Baron of Rignano, owner of the houses leaning against the convent, brought a few bottles to Naples where "many and admirable healings" were obtained, as recalled by P. Serafino Montorio in his work Zodiac of Mary. The friars of Stignano went around the whole Capitanata for begging and were known by all. Their hospitality sometimes caused some embarrassment as when, in 1647, at the time of the revolt of Masaniello, having taken command of the revolt in Foggia the "notar" Sabato Pastore, some nobles of the Daunian capital sought safe asylum in Stignano. The Franciscan fathers made this convent a house of study and novitiate for the formation of religious, making it a coveted home for religious, saints and scholars. In the following centuries the sanctuary underwent other alterations due to earthquakes in 1627 and fires (1814).

The interior of the Sanctuary

On the 15th of April 1863, under the great arch that connects the church to the ancient house of the Baron of Rignano, a shot from a rifle put an end to the dramatic career of Nicandro Polignone, one of the bandit chiefs of San Marco. Closed in 1862 due to the spread of banditry, it was reopened in 1864. Due to the subversive laws of 1870 which decreed the suppression of religious orders and the relative confiscation of assets, the convent, which became property of the state property, was purchased by the noble Centola di San Marco family in Lamis, thanks to which and to his heirs, the friars were able to lead an occasional life there according to the more or less favorable political events of the times. The illustrious heir Dr. Francesco Centola, with a notarial deed of Francesco Tardio fu Massimo, of the 7th of October 1953, donated the sanctuary with all the annexed property to the Monastic Province of the minor friars in Puglia, who immediately restored it, arranging it with the name of Franciscan Oasis as a place for spiritual exercises and for updating studies in consonance with the new needs of the Church in the contemporary world.

Description

Outside you can admire the magnificent sixteenth-century facade of the Abruzzo Romanesque church and the beautiful monument to Pius XII (donated in June 1966 by the Contardo Ferrini Cultural Association).

The main altar was designed by Luigi Schingo from San Severo.

In the main hall there is an eighteenth-century chair with magnificent paintings on the life of the Madonna.

Inside there is the enchanting sixteenth-century loggia with the exquisite well of 1576 and the cyclical paintings on the life of St. Francis.

Food & beverage

Bed and breakfast is included, half and full board services are available.

Grounds & Gardens

A large pine forest, two internal cloisters and a large terrace are available to customers.

Other facilities

At guest's disposal:

-40 rooms with bathrooms for a total of 80 beds
-Rooms equipped for the disabled
-Restaurant with 200 seats
-3 conference rooms
-Church
-Private parking
-Garden-Pinewood