CHURCH of Santa Maria di Monteverde
On this site there was once a small chapel where travellers often stopped due to its position between two roads. Here, the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as Lauretana, could be admired. This painting, attributed to a Greek artist, bears the signature: Io. Giubamesca-Meyalizio. This icon was called “di Monteverde” because it was on a hill not far from the old town of Grumo. The chapel was near the Pacifico Danisi land where the roads crossed and travellers found comfort in prayer. It was here that Marino Giappino, having been cured from a terrible illness, promised to build a church in honour of the Virgin Mary. One night, the Virgin came to him in a dream asking him to fulfil his vow. With some help from the inhabitants of Grumo, in 1633 the small chapel was replaced by a real church. The new church was built in local stone in the Romanic style of Puglia.
The rectangular design included a nave with two aisles with cloister vaults and a small presbytery. The main altar is gold and in the Corinthian order, still housing the ancient icon of the Virgin. Two paintings by Giacomo Quercia, dated 1781, decorate the church: one depicts the Archangel Raphael with Tobias, St. Rita and a Father of the Church; the other depicts St. Irene, St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Albertus Magnus. Above the entrance outside, the broken pediment holds the 17th century statue of the Madonna with Child, a crown held up by two cherubs. On the left is a simple bell tower erected in 1954, with single lancet windows housing three different sized bells which punctuate the rhythm of the days. Every year on the last Sunday of May, the roads of Grumo are alive with faith and festivities and the Madonna di Monterverde, patron saint of the town, once just an icon between two roads, is worshipped with promises of devotion and gratitude.