Sanctuary of the Madonna of Custonaci

The sanctuary, of late sixteenth-century origins, is the most representative monument of the town, a place of an ancient cult and a destination of pilgrimages.

The façade, with a portal of pointed arches and a rose window, and the Neo-Gothic interior are the expression of the last remakings carried out in the early twentieth century. Of great decorative effect are the monumental staircase and the paving of the churchyard in cobblestones with characteristic stone pebbles.

In the apse of the church is a large marble tribune, adorned with statues in marble and wood, the most sumptuous plastic-architectural furnishing of the Trapani area: at its centre is placed the venerated poplar-wood panel depicting the “Madonna lactans” (16th century), called Madonna of Custonaci. There are many legends tied to the cult of the Madonna, and customs such as the “transport” of the altarpiece to nearby Erice from 1568 to 1936, also to invoke rain in times of drought.