Situated on the Via Sublacense, the Sanctuary of Our Lady del Passo (of the footstep) was given the name to mark a miracle that took place in approx. 1616 when an icon of the Holy Virgin cured a peasant woman who was no longer able to walk.
There is also a legend about the Statue of the Virgin and Child tells:
“The event took place towards the end of the 17th century when a convoy of sacred statues was travelling past Agosta. One of these, most beautiful, represented the Holy Virgin holding her son.
The men carrying this transport (the Madonnari) stopped to rest, eat and feed the horses near the Church of Our Lady of the Step and offered the statue to the parish priest. The price, however, was too great and the priest could not afford to buy it.
The Madonnari headed off again in the direction of Subiaco, hoping to sell the statue to the monks of St. Benedict, but just outside Agosta they were overwhelmed by a terrible storm that forced them to turn back on their steps.
Once they had reached Agosta, the weather turned clement once again, as if by magic. The same thing happened three times over, each time forcing them to return to the village. Only when they decided to leave the statue with the priest were they able to leave the village and continue their journey.”
The Sanctuary was known as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Angels until the last century. On the main altar is a beautiful fresco of the Madonna who, before the miracle, had been abandoned among the briars.
The Procession with the venerated icon of the Madonna, traditional and stirring, is the most important festival for the people of Agosta and is held on the last Sunday in October.