Basilica Minore dell'Addolorata di Castelpetroso

The Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Addolorata in Castelpetroso is located at the foot of Mount Patalecchia. Its neo-Gothic structure, its domes, spires and white stones make it stand out in the green of the surrounding forest.
It was built following a miraculous event: on 22 March 1888, two peasant women, Bibiana and Serafina, were in the area known as "Cesa tra Santi", grazing two sheep. One of them was lost and the two women did their best to look for it. Bibiana arrived in front of a small cave and found herself in front of a celestial vision. In the glow of the light she could recognise the image of the Holy Mary of Sorrows, half kneeling with her dead Son at her feet, her gaze turned towards heaven and her arms extended in an act of offering.
The place immediately became a place of pilgrimage, and Monsignor Francesco Macarone Palmieri, Bishop of Bojano, and the director of the magazine "Il Servo di Maria", Carlo Acquaderni, promoted the construction of the sanctuary.
The first stone was laid on 28th September 1890 and the consecration took place on 21st September 1975.
The design of the Basilica was entrusted to the Bolognese engineer Francesco Gualandi, one of the main exponents of Italian Neo-Gothic.