Chiesa di Santa Maria di Piedigrotta

This guide to the Chiesa di Santa Maria di Piedigrotta in Naples opens with a friar named Bernardino, who one stormy night in the 1350s found the Madonna's statue missing from its niche while waves battered the shore below. It follows the legend of her return and the tradition it inspired, the little shoe Neapolitan brides still receive, and traces of a noblewoman named Maria di Durazzo tied to the sanctuary's founding. You'll also hear how a quiet shrine became the center of Naples's oldest and loudest annual feast.