Built in the twelfth century and restored in the 1600s,the small church is so named because it was built into the rock.
Legend has it that one day a shepherd boy trying to protect his flock went into a cave. In the glow of a lightning strike, he saw a lady with a baby in her arms. Frightened he fled, leaving the sheep. He returned later with his parents. At the point where he had seen the lady, there was a crack in the rock in which you could see a painting of the lady with the baby. After the appearance of the apparition of the Madonna to the shepherd, the small cave became a place of pilgrimage for many believers who still today, every third Sunday of September, go to the church to celebrate the Madonna della Rocca.
Madonna della Rocca is accessible by car, or if you are feeling energetic you can climb the steps up to the church.
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