Sanctuary Of Our Lady Of Pompei

In Castro Marina stands the Sanctuary consecrated to the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii, built between 1893 and 1895, on a project by Baron Filippo Basile of Castiglione, thanks to a diligent fundraising commissioned by the archpriest Gabriele Ciullo, canon of Castro.

On 11 December 1985 the church was elevated to the Sanctuary of the Holy Father and, the following year, the brotherhood of the SS. Rosary.

Outside of the Sanctuary

The building stands on a small plateau on the sloping side that slopes down to the current Piazza Dante with the façade on the historic Via Santuario. It has a very small layout and, again due to the scarcity of space, it does not have a proper churchyard or a small square in front of it.

However, the façade envisaged by the Bacile is noteworthy, with a perfectly rectangular full-height development, to dominate the nearby buildings, probably already existing and have visibility from the entire valley of the Canalone in front.

Except for the central portal and the bi-perforated window just above, the whole decoration is moved up on the crowning line and is composed of an embroidery of monolithic stylized flowers also in Lecce stone. Two huge, cantilevered spindles terminate the upper lateral vertices.

The two openings on the front are characterized by frames that have a recessed groove motif, which is repeated in negative even on the small secondary profiles that frame the door.

Indoor/ Interior

The structure is a large chapel to which the Basin manages to give the appearance of a church by enlarging the internal space on two sides as a transept and equipping it with a small apse at the bottom.

Here, inside a marble pavilion that also serves as a pre-conciliar altar, the statue of the Virgin is positioned; work of the Lecce master Achille De Lucretiis. This was commissioned by the fishermen of Castro as thanks for the narrow escape from the storm of 30 December 1896 and, by vote, carried on the shoulders of the craftsman's shop in Lecce, to the waters of the Porto Vecchio.

The main space of the small Sanctuary, is illuminated by small windows decorated in a Gothic style, is about eleven meters high and is vaulted in three parts: two corner vaults in the Lecce style for the main nave and a semi-pavilion vault on a hexagonal base for the apse.

The original mosaic floor is preserved only in the first part of the nave, while in the rest of the church it has been replaced by concrete bricks with a mosaic pattern and Carrara marble slabs have been used for the altar area.

In 1956, by the rector Don Luigi Rausa, works were carried out for a modest extension and the erection of the bell tower.

Celebrations

In Salento, the Madonna del Rosario is venerated as a liberator from error and vice. The current feast of the Madonna del Rosario was established by St. Pius V, as a sign of thanks to the Virgin, for the victory of the Christian fleet against the Turks in Lepanto on 7 October 1571. The title is equivalent to that of Madonna della Vittoria, to whom we owe the many baptisms of Vittorio and Vittoria in Salento.

The anniversary is celebrated in Castro Marina, as in the rest of the world, both on May 8 and on the first Sunday in October. In Castro, moreover, on 12 August, the solemn civil and religious celebrations take place, with the characteristic procession at sea.