THE SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF PORTO SALVO

Various testimonies date back to the time of the Ouarta Crusade (1202-1204), commissioned by Pope Innocent III and led by the captains Bonifacio di Monferrato and Baldovino di Fiandra together with the Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo and never arrived in the Holy Land but diverted to Constantinople, the presence unknown of an image of Mary Mother of God in a cave at the root of the Vallone called, precisely, of the Madonna.

The first to mention it is the historian and writer Fazello who in 1568 tells of the presence of "a chapel consecrated to Mary in a cave". Twenty-eight years later, in 1596, the chronicler Lorenzo d'Anania confirms that "a lamp burns continuously in front of the image of Our Lady, who has not lacked the oil supplied by Christian and Mohammedan helmsmen." Later, in 1623, Felice Astolfi states that "... in Lampedusa there is a chapel with the image of the Madonna inside ..." and in 1655 the traveler Pagnozzi adds "... worthy of great veneration is the Madonna of Lampedusa honored and revered by the Turks themselves ... "

Even the Spanish corsair Contrares confirms and describes the existence and shape of the cave that housed the image of the Madonna and concludes that Christians and Turks place food there to serve for the shipwrecked and escaped slaves. But no one should take more than necessary. If they did, it would be impossible for them to be able to get out of the port ».

More precise is the quote from the writer Francesco Maggio (1657): "The beautiful statue of the Madonna of Trapani, sculpted in Cyprus in the year 730 and transferred from Jerusalem by some Knights Templar of the city of Pisa, running storm the ship that carried it, yes he saved in Lampedusa. Of having been there the statue of Our Lady preserves the memory of it in until today a small "church which even the barbarians usually venerate"

The more detailed information will be provided by the governor of the "new colony" Bernardo Maria Sanvisente, in his detailed report to Ferdinand II. About the «chapel consecrated to Mary in a cave» he writes: «In the Vallon de la Madonna there was a small church with ancient dwellings, a dilapidated house and several caves. In the small church, which I found in a poor state, there was a statue of the Virgin mutilated and thrown to the ground. I had it restored and arranged for a mass to be sung every 22 September to solemnize the day of the restoration and possession of the island which took place on 22 September 1843 when we landed in Lampedusa with two steamers and in the name of the Bourbon government.

The aforementioned church was initially used for dual use. In fact, when I arrived on the island, at the entrance there was a room closed by a gate and all around some stone seats and other things for the Turkish religion. This place was used for Arabs who passed through here and wished to pray their religion. Further down, the gate opened, there was a second room where the faithful who wished to visit the miraculous image found the Christian altar with the already mentioned Holy Virgin on it ».

From this story it could be deduced that since then, in facts more than in intentions, still declaimed but little realized, the unity of religions, at least of the two historical antagonists, that of Islam and that of Christ, had been achieved in the small remote island of Lampedusa and at the foot of a statue of the Madonna.

With regard to the Christian and Mohammedan "double use" described by Sanvisente, legend has it that a hermit who owned

outstanding diplomatic qualities. When Mohammedans (Turks) visited the church, the hermit raised a flag with a crescent somewhere; when Christians visited it, he raised a cross. In this way the hermit obtained from both help and protection without compromising himself. After the restoration carried out by Sanvisente, the church assumed its present shape and the statue of the Madonna, in stone weighing about 150 kilos and of a rather primitive make, took the name of Madonna di Porto Salvo because it was elected protector of the people of the sea. During the last world war an air-naval bombardment destroyed a large part of the citadel and the defensive fortifications, did not spare the sanctuary while leaving the statue of the Madonna intact. And since there were no human victims, the population of Lampedusa rebuilt the small temple as a sign of gratitude to the patron Virgin. The parish priest, the very active priest Don Giuseppe Policardi, has done so

and provides with personal generosity to the maintenance of the small sanctuary and has embellished it with a flower garden of notable beauty. The necessary annual restorations, which he carries out with care and dedication, are supported by the offers that come mostly from the emigrated Lampedusans. Next to the Sanctuary there are some caves, large and intercommunicating, which are the same in which shipwrecked and runaway slaves took refuge and, later, also used by the first settlers transferred to Lampedusa with the governor Bernardo Maria Sanvisente.

Both the primitive rough stone pavements and the hollows where the ends of the poles of the large grinding wheel used for grinding the grain were inserted.

Next to a cave, and still active today, there is a large cistern that collects rainwater that flows into it from the natural channels above. A double stone basin served and is used for the transfer of water taken with the buckets and from here channeled to a stone funnel under which the container was placed so that no drop was lost or wetted the feet of those who drew.

regardless of any religious motivation, it is interesting to visit this sanctuary because it is one of the very few almost archaeological finds to be found on the island. However, it belongs to the history-legend of Lampedusa.

Taken from "The Islands of the Sun" by Enzo Mancini

U. Mursia Editore SpA - Milan