Church of the Madonna del Soccorso in Cerreto Sannita

The Church of the Madonna del Soccorso stands in the territory of Cerreto Sannita along the old road linking Cerreto to Apulia, travelled by flocks and woollen-cloth merchants. Tradition has it that a wealthy merchant, having survived a fall from his horse, founded the shrine out of gratitude to the Virgin. Enlargement began in 1634 and, after the 1688 earthquake, the church was promptly restored.We like its simplicity: a gabled façade with a small bell tower and a single hall covered by timber trusses, where traces of the floor in Cerreto ceramic remain. The carved wooden altarpiece with the Madonna trampling the devil is now kept in the collegiate church of San Martino. We recommend seeking it out to complete the itinerary.