Morro d'Oro - Santa Maria di Propezzano

Santa Maria di Propezzano was once part of the Benedictine abbey of the same name. According to tradition, an apparition of Our Lady of God took place here in May 715. An inscription from the 15th century describes that three pilgrims on their way back from the Holy Land stopped here under a tree. They had hung bags with valuable relics on it, when suddenly the tree began to grow very quickly. The pilgrims could not reach the bags no matter how hard they tried. Frightened, they prayed and asked God for an explanation. When they fell asleep, our Lady appeared to them in a dream, asking that a church be built in that place. As soon as they woke up, they began to build an altar. The tree lowered and allowed them to get the bags.

The entire complex is the result of numerous reconstructions and changes made in different eras, as it was destroyed by waves of barbarians, Illyrian pirates, Hungarians and Saracens. The first foundations of a church are dated to the 9th century. The building dates back to the 13th century. The building measures about 8 x 30 meters and belongs to a single-nave Romanesque church.

In the 14th century the side naves that determined the division of the inner hall into three naves, were added.


Two lions flank the oculus