The Sanctuary of Jacurso

Jacurso - The church of Jacurso is located in Viale Madonna della Salvazione and became a sanctuary in 2002. Its name 'Madonna della Salvazione' takes up the passage from the Gospel concerning the flight to Egypt of the Holy Family, who wanted to save the child Jesus. Madonna della Salvazione has very ancient origins; the statue inside the sanctuary in fact dates back to 1598.

The church was originally dedicated to Santa Maria del Monte Carmelo, and was annexed to the convent of the Carmelite order. The convent was destroyed by the earthquake of 1783 but then rebuilt; today only a part of the original wall remains visible. Another earthquake destroyed the church in 1905 which was rebuilt in a neoclassical style. Several legends are connected to the sanctuary and its statue of the Madonna; One of these tells that the Carmelite fathers, around the middle of 1500, saw a beautiful girl who collected stones to erect her house and this led them to the construction of a small church, near the convent, and the statue. Another legend tells of how the statue, which suddenly became very heavy, was unable to be stolen by the inhabitants of a neighboring municipality. The festivities of the Madonna are celebrated on the last Sunday of July and the devotion to the Madonna is so great that it has been handed down for generations; only in 2010 in fact the population donated their gold to create a chalice and a rosary, or again, during the celebrations, women must bring typical sweets representing anthropomorphic figures to the church.