The Sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna della Margana, patroness of the island, is located in the district of the same name. The current building, erected around 1700 on the site of an earlier sanctuary, retains the characteristics of a classic rural church: a single nave, barrel vaults, and a gabled roof. Over the years it has undergone various alterations, including changes to the main façade and the churchyard; the interior frescoes, painted by an exiled Greek priest, have been covered, and the bell tower has been replaced. The floor was also replaced in 1966, beneath which lie burials dating to the early 1800s and a now-sealed underground crypt. The Madonna painting is of inestimable value, believed to date from 857. Legend holds that the panel—likely of Byzantine origin—was brought from the East aboard a sailing ship. When it was loaded onto a donkey, the animal stopped at the very spot where the church now stands, thus indicating the painting’s destined location.
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