Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Mezzogiorno

Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Mezzogiorno: where Catanzaro was born Perched on a rocky spur in the heart of the historic center, the church of Santa Maria del Mezzogiorno guards the oldest secrets of Catanzaro. This venerable sanctuary, which has held the title of Marian Sanctuary since 1991, is not only one of the most beloved places of worship for the people of Catanzaro, but also represents the living testimony of the city's Byzantine origins. From the mists of time: when Byzantium founded Catanzaro The history of this temple is lost in the mists of the early Middle Ages, when between the 9th and 11th centuries the Byzantine strategos Flagizio founded the kastron of Catanzaro. It was the era of the Catepanate of Italy, when Byzantium reorganized Calabria by creating a network of fortified centers on "rocky spurs, peaks, and hills cut by cliffs," as described by the historian Emilia Zinzi. In this context, the church of Santa Maria de Meridie was born, whose name derives from the liturgical orientation towards the southeast, following a tradition that emerged in the West from the 8th century. The altar facing where the sun rises symbolized the journey of the faithful from darkness to light, from the west to the east of salvation. The miracle of the fig tree: when the Madonna fed Catanzaro But popular tradition tells an even more evocative origin story. Legend has it that before the construction of the church, every day at noon a "beautiful lady" - identified with the Madonna - appeared on a fig tree distributing bread and figs to children and the needy during a terrible famine. This miraculous event, which gave the church its name, is now remembered by a fresco from 1991 painted on the bell tower by the Catanzaro painter Gioacchino Lamanna. A parish in the center of power In the medieval urban system, Santa Maria del Mezzogiorno occupied a strategic position in the Vescovato district. Its vast parish "enclosure" extended from the Porta di Pratica to the fountain of Circuglio, up to the bastion of San Nicola Coracitano in the Pietra Viva district, testifying to the administrative and military importance of this area. Vincenzo D'Amato, in his "Historical Memoirs" of 1670, described the church as "beautifully restored" by Don Carlo Iannazzo, emphasizing the "wonderful gathering" of faithful attracted by the "continuous miracles and graces" of the image of the Virgin. The miraculous image that has moved hearts for centuries At the center of the seventeenth-century apex of the presbytery, made of polychrome marbles with the characteristic green of Gimigliano, stands the ancient plaster effigy of the Madonna seated with the Child. This image, documented as early as 1601 during the pastoral visit of Monsignor Orazi, was solemnly crowned with a silver diadem in 1797, in recognition of the centuries-old devotion of the people of Catanzaro. Rebirths after disasters The earthquake of 1783 deeply marked the history of the church, which also absorbed the par...