The Sanctuary of Madonna della Civita

At the centre of the village near Murat’s Fountain, the Via Appia is crossed by the SS 82 which leads to the Sanctuary of Madonna della Civita only 12 Km away from Itri. There is also a shorter but more difficult itinerary to reach the sanctuary. It is an old sheep-track which crosses the main road at the old column-mounted cross and follows the mid 19th century path around Mount Fusco and ends at the square in front of the sanctuary high on the hills.

            The Sanctuary

Here visitors can enjoy a beautiful view of Gaeta’s promontory towards south and Terracina and the Circeo on the west. The sanctuary dominates the valleys around Itri on the top of Mount Fusco (673 mt) and it offers a great scenic terrace between the Ausoni e Aurunci mountains with magnificent views on the south Tyrrhenian Sea. Its position was strategically chosen in medieval times on the mountain roads, natural crossway leading the local populations from the sea and Gaeta’s Gulf to the inland territories of lower Lazio like Ciociaria and further inland in Abruzzo. The sanctuary and its Madonna traditionally have a large number of devotees in all the territories around.

The first mention of the sanctuary dates back to the 1147 AD when Don Gualgano, a wealthy notary of Gaeta and his wife Sighelgarda left a conspicuous sum as donation for the Madonna. Initially it seems that the sanctuary was part of an ancient monastery destroyed in Middle Ages. In fact, old traditions recounts of a small ancient monastery (12th century) of Benedictine monks named Val di Fellino or Figline at the feet of today’s sanctuary. At the top of the steps, the courtyard is backed by the portico of the Benedictines building consecrated in 1491.

The three naves interior dating back to the period 1820-1826 has an 18th century high altar decorated with images of a Madonna painted on canvas stretched over copper and featuring an ‘Oditria’ (leading the way) type of Virgin with child.Tradition maintains that this work of art was painted by San Lucas fleeing from Byzantium and landed in Gaeta or Sicily. A legend recounts that a deaf and dumb young shepherd looking for a lost animal found San Lucas on his knees in front of the image in the picture under a holm-oak. After the encounter the young shepherd started to speak again. To reinforce this version the images portrayed are in Byzantine style and inspired by the teachings of the Evangelists. Since then, maybe before the 1000 AD, the location was a place visited by pilgrims.

The celebrations in honor of the Madonna take place on the 21st July and still today pilgrims come as far from the Abruzzo, Molise and Campania regions to climb to the foot of the sanctuary and keep vigil while praying for grace and comfort. This pilgrimage was very popular with an image of the Madonna being crowned by Pope Pius IX paying homage in 1849 at the time of the Bourbon dynasty, when his seat was temporarily placed in exile in Gaeta.

According to tradition the holy image of the Madonna della Civita painted by the Apostle Luke was disputed through the centuries by the villages of Itri and Campodimele. The old dispute ended with both sides still celebrating the event with a evocative ceremony known as the “Embrace of the Elders”, in which two groups of seven elderly citizens participate in a touching embrace in front of the sanctuary where is kept the sacred image. A peculiar fact is the presence in the church of the sanctuary of a red cement tile in the marble floor on the right of the main altar. This architectonic anomaly is originated by a strange occurrence: every time was attempted a substitution of the red tile with a marble one, the new one was always found broken. As result those in charge at the sanctuary decided to keep the red one as they were unable to explain the unusual phenomena causing the mysterious cracks.