Santa Maria della Nova and its sanctuary
The sanctuary church of Santa Maria della Nova is appropriately considered the oldest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Ostuni.
The small church of Santa Maria della Nova dates back to the 16th century in front of a much older Basilian crypt and still has a simple façade, on which a single, precious ogive portal opens, refined by the small rose window decorated with the image of Jesus. It is the last example of a Gothic structure in Ostuni modelled on the stylistic references offered by the cathedral.
The latest frescoes discovered (1996-97) and the style of some of the decorations suggest that there was already a forepart before the present church was built: a very small church whose altar was the one that is now in the grotto. The oldest existing fresco inside the cave is a Deesis depicting Christ enthroned with the Virgin and St John the Baptist on either side. Christ’s face is consumed and this can be traced back to the Byzantine tradition of kissing the sacred face at every celebration.
In the 18th century, during the plague that also hit our town, it was used as a lazaret; it was a place of pilgrimage during the last world war. Parents, wives, girlfriends and children used to go there carrying pictures of relatives who were at war and who had not been heard from for a long time, in the hope of getting the ‘good news’ about their loved ones.
The interior of the Church of Santa Maria della Nova consists of a single room with a vaulted ceiling and an altar made of pietra gentile dating from 1761. Beyond the altar, a stone statue of the Virgin and Child dating from the 16th century can be seen in a niche.
Santa Maria della Nova is celebrated by the loca community on Sunday ‘in Albis’ (the first Sunday after Easter) with a pilgrimage to pay homage to the Madonna della Buona Novella during the traditional popular festival known as the ‘Palomma’. This name derives from the typical cake that grandmothers or mothers prepare for this occasion.
