The oldest thing kept here is not the sanctuary itself: it is a painting. The “Santa Maria della Stella” dates from the 14th century, while the convent of the Santissimo Crocifisso in Forenza goes back to the 17th, three centuries later. The complex was founded as a convent and includes the sanctuary that gives it its name, where a wooden statue of Jesus Christ is venerated: a wooden crucifix of the 17th century, the same age as the walls around it.
What to see
There are three things inside and they belong to three different periods. The wooden crucifix, which is the reason for the name and for the devotion. The canvases of the 16th century, a hundred years older than the building. And the painting of Santa Maria della Stella, from the 14th century, the oldest piece in the whole complex.
Lined up, those dates say more than they seem to. The building is 17th century, the canvases 16th, the Virgin 14th: the furnishings are older than the container, and part of what you see either came from somewhere else or survived an earlier building. Only the crucifix was born together with the convent.
Visiting
The part that matters to anyone who turns up is the sanctuary, because that is where the sculpture and the paintings are. Do not expect museum hours: opening follows the church services, and in a town as small as Forenza it is worth asking at the parish or the town hall before you go, especially outside the summer months. Once inside, the first thing to look for is not the crucifix, which finds you by itself, but the 14th-century painting.
Our editors' tip
Look at the works in order of age rather than of position: first the Santa Maria della Stella, then the 16th-century canvases, and the wooden crucifix last. In twenty minutes you will have crossed three centuries and understood the real relationship between this building and its contents: the 17th-century convent arrived last, to act as custodian of works that already existed.