Cerchiara di Calabria is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Cosenza

Cosenza

Cosenza is a city in southern Italy, located at the confluence of two historic rivers: the Busento and the Crathis. The municipal population is of around 70,000; the urban area, however, counts over 260,000 inhabitants...

 in the Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

 region of southern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Cercharia occupies the ancient site of Arponium in Magna Graecia

Magna Graecia

Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...

, under the Byzantine name of Circlarium. During the Norman period it was part of the lands of the Clermont (Chiaramonte) family, when most of the Byzantine institutions were reformed in the Latin rite.
The town is best known for the Sanctuary of S. Maria delle Armi. The cells of hermit monks of Greek origin on Monte Sellario were already established by the tenth century. In the mid-fifteenth century a cult developed in connection with ancient Byzantine icons. The small chapel shrine excavated in the rock was enlarged in the early sixteenth century under the patronage of principe Pietro Antonio Sanseverino. In following eras a hospice for pilgrims was added and the palace of the marchesi Pignatelli di Cerchiara. The resulting church is rendered asymmetrical by its position against the cliff face.

External links

• Cerchiara di Calabria