What to do and see at the Convent and Oasis Santa Maria di Stignano, description of the complex with notes on the historical events that have taken place since the foundation.
Tourist information
In the hamlet of Stignano, belonging to the municipality of San Marco in Lamis in the province of Foggia in the Puglia region, there is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Stignano, the first that pilgrims from the north met on the Via Sacra dei Longobardi, located at the beginning of the San Marco in Lamis Valley.
Despite the fact that the foundation of the complex dates back to the sixteenth century, the first information regarding the cult of the Madonna in this place is dated 1231, with references to the place where there was a small chapel which later became a pilgrimage destination.
The current structure, including the Sanctuary and the Convent, was built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
It was a feudal lord of the area, Ettore Pappacoda, who in 1515 had the Church built, later finished with the beautiful dome.
What see
In 1560 the Sanctuary was entrusted to the Observant Friars Minor, who completed the church and the bell tower, earmarking the complex as a novitiate in the Franciscan province of Sant'Angelo and as a place of welcome for study and prayer.
In 1862 the decline of the Sanctuary began, closed by the authorities due to brigandage.
Reopened in 1864, it was closed again shortly afterwards, due to laws that suppressed religious orders.
From 1953 the convent was donated by the owner Franceso Centola to the Friars Minor of Puglia and Molise.
After subsequent restoration works, today the Sanctuary Oasis Santa Maria di Stignano is a welcoming place for Spiritual Exercises, as well as the suitable place for moments of personal and community prayer, surrounded by greenery and very interesting from an artistic point of view.
