Chiesa di Santa Maria della Strada a Matrice

A king named Bove, who was madly in love with his sister, applied to the Pope for permission to marry her. The Pope agreed, but only if Bove could build a hundred churches in one night.
The king turned to the devil, who was the only one who could help him.
The devil asked for the king's soul in exchange for so much work.
During the night, the king and the devil worked incessantly to build the churches.
At dawn ninety-nine churches were built, but King Bove regretted his act and asked God for forgiveness.
The devil, angered, threw a boulder at the church of Santa Maria della Strada, the boulder is still standing near the church.
King Bove was buried here when he died.
Legend has it that only seven churches have survived over the centuries: those of Santa Maria di Monteverde, Maria Santissima Assunta di Ferrazzano, San Leonardo di Campobasso, Santa Maria di Cercemaggiore, Santa Maria della Strada and the cathedral of Volturara Appula, while the name of the seventh remains obscure.
There are no certain elements to determine the name "della Strada". It  could derive from the presence, in the vicinity, of a paved road; or it could indicate "the road" indicated to pilgrims to reach the sanctuaries of St. Michael on the Gargano and St. Nicholas in Bari.
The origins of the church, in honour of the Madonna, are linked to the period when the feud of Matrice was ruled by Roberto Valerio and it seems that he himself donated the land on which the monument stands.
The construction of the church can be dated around 1100, and it was consecrated in 1148 by Archbishop Pietro and bishops Giovanni di Volturara, Raimondo di Cividale and Roberto di Bojano.
After various vicissitudes of total abandonment, Cardinal Orsini of Benevento restored and consecrated it and reopened it for worship in 1703. At the end of 1889, thanks to the interest of Vincenzo Ambrosiani (archpriest of Monacilioni at the time) it became a National Monument.