“Marginette”, “maestaine”, votive aedicules, and religious images of various kinds are frequently found in our villages. They represent an artistic, historical, and religious heritage, perhaps taken in little consideration, but deserving of attention and interest, because they are extremely linked to the popular tradition of our land. They were built in the middle of villages or in the open countryside, at the edge of fields or at crossroads, with a religious or votive function. They were set up to give thanks for an escaped danger or a healing, to remember someone or a certain event. They are frequently dedicated to the Madonna, in all her forms and variations.
On this path, a small “majesty” with inside a depiction of the Madonna della Stella, is still visible. In the municipality of Fosciandora's territory there is a particularly profound veneration for this image of the Virgin, to whom a shrine, Maria SS della Stella, has been dedicated. For centuries, it has been a centre of pilgrimage This devotion has increased considerably since 1798, the year in which the ancient fresco of the Madonna della Stella was accidentally and almost miraculously brought to light. The fresco, dating back to the 1400s, was hidden behind a wall of the old oratory, which has temporarily fallen into oblivion.
