Shrine of the Madonna del Castello
Place of worship
The Shrine of the Madonna del Castello, in Castrovillari, was built around 1090, under Ruggero Borsa, Duke of Apulia and Calabria. The originary structure had to be very different from today: the entrance was marked by three pointed arches (for each of the three naves) leading into a porch, as opposed to the current one. The fragments of frescoes depicting Christ the Redeemer, probably part of a series of paintings, dating back to the '300.
The building was rebuilt in its present form after the earthquake of 1693, and completed in 1769: the entrance is now characterized by a Gothic portal surmounted by a panel of the fourteenth century depicting the "Madonna and Child", by the Sienese Tino Camaino. The Latin cross plant, with a vault instead of the wooden ceiling, and Baroque interiors are fruits of eighteenth century interventions. Among the numerous works of art preserved inside, we highlight two sixteenth tables by Peter Negroni; the paintings of the '700 by Genesio Galtier and the late Renaissance wooden choir, attributed to the workshop of Giovan Pietro Cerchiaro.
