Eremo di Santa Maria della Stella
The Hermitage Sanctuary of St. Mary of the Star is located on the namesake mountain, in the territory of Pazzano (RC), inside a cave. The first written source relative to the hermitage is the Byzantine Greek Code 598 in Paris, by monk Michele. Since 1096, during the Norman period, the hermitage becomes a smaller monastery, to rise to Catholic shrine in 1522, with the consecration of the statue of the Madonna of the Star (or Madonna of the Stair), work by Sicilian sculptor Rinaldo Bonanno. Access to the cave is a long staircase carved into the stone. The cave houses the statue of the Madonna and paintings depicting the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Trinity and the Adoration of the Shepherds. Of particular interest is the fragment of a Byzantine fresco (X-XI century) depicting St. Mary the Egyptian receiving the Eucharist from monk Zosimus. On August 15 of each year, the cave is a place of pilgrimage.
