Sanctuary of the Virgin of Taburnus

The sanctuary is located in the territory of Bucciano, at an elevation of 544 metres above sea level,^[1] on the southern foothills of the Taburno Camposauro massif. Its position overlooks most of the Valle Caudina, and the structures composing it are surrounded by thick vegetation.^[2] Trails leading to three caves decorated with rock paintings start from the sanctuary.^[3]

According to popular tradition, in 1401 a deaf-mute girl named Agnese, from the nearby town of Moiano, was herding sheep when a statue of the Virgin Mary located in a cave called her, asking to be moved to a better, nearby place. The Virgin Mary also returned hearing and speech to the girl.^[4] The news spread rapidly in the area, and Carlo Carafa, count of Airola, had a chapel built in the vicinity of the cave. The apparition of an effigy of the Virgin Mary was a common reason for the foundation of sanctuaries at the time.^[5]

In 1494 a convent was built by the grandchild of Carlo Carafa, at the time count of Airola and bearing the same name, both out of devotion, and because of the growing fame of the place, to ingratiate the devoted populace.^{[6]p. 23}

The sanctuary was given to the Dominican friars in 1498. The prior of the convent acted as priest for the population leaving near the Fizzo source of Bucciano, and since 1571 the monks held the Corpus Domini procession by themselves. From 1669 to 1672 Vincenzo Maria Orsini, who later became Pope Benedict XIII lived in the convent.^{[7][6]p. 26} The sanctuary became one of the most important religious centres in Campania.^[5]

In 1743 the monks decided to leave the monastery and move to a new one built near Airola, and the decision was approved in 1753 by Brancone, State Secretary of the Kingdom of Naples. The people of Moiano and Bucciano protested to Charles III of Spain and later, in 1779, to Ferdinand IV, arguing that the state of neglect claimed by the Dominicans was a mere need of maintenance, and that architectural elements had been taken from the sanctuary and used in the newly built convent. Ferdinand IV ordered the monks to celebrate mass daily at their own expense, but this did not stop the progressive decline of the structure.^[5][6]p.32

In 1890 the priest of a Bucciano parish and the mayor of the town began promoting efforts to restore the sanctuary. Camillo Siciliano di Rende, archbishop of Benevento at the time, made the first solemn pilgrimage in 1891.^{[7][6]p. 52} The following year structural reinforcement works were conducted, and further restorations occurred in 1925, with financial aid by Bucciano people who had emigrated to the United States.^[6]p.37 The sanctuary was damaged by the 1930 Irpinia earthquake, being again restored thanks to donations by migrants of the area, and by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake. After the latter, a new period of neglect started.^[6]p.39

The bishop of the Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti appointed in 1998, Michele de Rosa, pushed for a collaboration of his diocese, the parish and the comune of Bucciano for the recovery of the sanctuary. Along with the province of Benevento administration, the three parties restored several parts of the sanctuary at the beginning of the 2000s. The current church was inaugurated in November 2007.^{[6]p. 42}