The Church of The Virgin of Graces (or the Star), situated in Piazza Leandra, is perhaps one of the oldest churches in Civitavecchia.
It is the seat of the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalon which was founded in Civitavecchia in 1274. Tradition recounts that St. Bonaventure came through the town in 1274 while travelling to the Second Council of Lyons on behalf of Pope Gregory X. Many of the town faithful beseeched him to include their names in the Unione di Raccomandati alla Santissima Vergine which he had founded in 1263 in Rome.
The institution later became known as the Company of the Gonfalon, because during the turbulence in 1354 in Rome, members of the Confraternity would race to the sites where fighting and insurrection were taking place and manage to restore calm in the name of the Virgin Mary, holding the Holy Cross as the emblem, flag and gonfalon of peace and justice.
The Confraternity wanted to build their own church and oratory, so they requested and obtained the Church of the Star in 1688, from Bishop Brancacci of Civitavecchia, which they expanded, decorated and adorned with precious, holy furnishings at their own expense. The Church houses a noteworthy wooden statue of the Virgin and the aforementioned holy furnishings.
 

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