The Chiesa dell'Avvocata (Sanctuary of the Protectress) is located at the top of a long rock formation on the plateau of Mount Mirteto (approx. 900 meters above sea level) at the base of Mount Falerzio (1024 meters above sea level). A steep stairway from the Lama quarter in Maiori leads to the Sanctuary; instead, from the city of Cava de' Tirreni, a narrow mule path leads to the Sanctuary from the S.S. Trinità Abbey.
A few meters below the rock formation, almost at the summit of the mountain, a deep grotto is carved into the mountain, where, in 1470, the S.S. Vergine (the Virgin Mary) appeared in a dream to Gabriello Cinnamo (a shepherd from Maiori). After a second vision of the Madonna, the shepherd decided to devote his life to the Virgin, and obtained permission from Pinto Staibano, the Abbott of S. Maria de Olearia, to build an alter dedicated to the "Protectress" in the grotto where the miracle took place. When the news of the prodigious event spread, the local population decided to build a church and bell tower on the summit of the hill, a small monastery was also built where a group of hermit monks gathered from 1508 to 1687.
Then, from 1687 until 1807, when Giuseppe Bonaparte decreed its abolition, Mt. Avvocata was the seat of a flourishing Hermitage, built by the Camaldolesi of Monte Corona. Without doubt, this period, in which the monastery housed, among other treasures, a rich library, represents the golden age of the Sanctuary, the vestiges of which can still be admired today. Unfortunately, after the fall of Napoleon I, the Camaldolesi monks did not return to their ancient monastery, even though the local population repeatedly entreated them to do so. Every year, on the Monday after Pentecost, the main feast day of the Madonna dell'Avvocata, numerous faithful followers go up to the mountain top. From this summit, the beautiful panorama of the Gulf of Salerno and the Amalfi Coast can be admired.
For further information on how to get to Monte Falerzio to visit the Sanctuary, contact the Comune di Maiori (Maiori City Hall) by e-mail
