Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Fourteenth-century country church with fifteenth-century frescoes and a graffito on the battle of Cerignola of 1503.
3 places covered in Cerignola Grouped by type, most important first.
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Churches and places of worship
1Museums, theatres and collections
1Teatro Saverio Mercadante
Cerignola's main theatre, designed by Leopoldo Vaccaro and inaugurated in 1868 thanks to self-taxation.
Castles, palaces and villas
1Torre Alemanna
Fortified farm of the Teutonic Knights with a tower and thirteenth-century frescoes, grown around a Cistercian church.
More places of interest
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Santuario Madonna di Ripalta
The diocesan sanctuary of the Mother of God Most Holy Mary of Ripalta stands at Ripa Alta, about nine kilometres from Cerignola, on a sheer cliff about a hundred and fifty metres high on the left bank of the Ofanto. It houses the icon of the Madonna di Ripalta, the city's chief patron.
What to see
Originally pagan rites were practised here: a stele proves it, probably part of an ancient temple, with a Latin inscription about the building of an altar to the goddess Bona, deity of pastoralism and woods. The existence of a church is proven already in AD 947; in 1259 a deed of the Provost of the Church of Canosa cites it as the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ripalta, and in 1310 the property passed to the Teutonic Knights. Its condition worsened over the centuries, until in 1931 restoration and consolidation work was begun, followed in 1974 by enlargement work with the building of the transept and the apse. On 8 September 1992 the church was raised to a diocesan sanctuary, and in 1993 the property passed from private owners to the Diocese.
The Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child enthroned, thought to be of the thirteenth century, is a painting on canvas laid over two wooden boards and is the only surviving example in Puglia of the Hodegetria dexiokratousa type, in which the Virgin holds the Child with her right hand and points to him with her left. The Madonna wears a blue tunic and a purple maphorion quilted with eleven little flower-crosses; the Child blesses with his right hand and holds a scroll in his left, with bare, crossed legs. According to legend it was found around 1172 in a place called Ripa Alta by a band of ruffians who used it to beat lard: at the blow of the axe blood came from the board, and the faces of the Virgin and the Child were found scarred. The people wanted the scar not to be restored, so that the condemnation of violence would always stay alive. Since 1859 the Madonna di Ripalta has been the chief patron of Cerignola and is celebrated on 8 September.
Visiting
The sanctuary is at Ripa Alta, about nine kilometres from Cerignola. The icon stays there from the second Monday of October to the Saturday after Easter, then returns to the cathedral of Cerignola: on those days the faithful go on pilgrimage on foot. The sources consulted give no opening hours or visiting arrangements: check them.
Our editors' tip
During the procession with the icon the cortege makes two stops at as many rural chapels, the Salve Regina, of 1872, and the Pozzelle, of 1833.
Tours & experiences in Cerignola
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What to eat here 1
Burrata di Andria
Where to stay
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Events & festivals 1
Next up: Our Lady of Ripalta, patron of a church built over a temple of the goddess Bona, Monday 6 September
Getting there
Nearest airport: Bari Palese, 73 km away
Near Cerignola
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
