Materdomini

Materdomini is a hamlet of the municipality of Caposele (Avellino), 2.5 km from the town. Here stands the imposing sail-shaped Sanctuary of San Gerardo Maiella, medieval in origin but with modern additions from the 1970s, and restored after the 1980 earthquake. The original part of the sanctuary stands on the spot where the Virgin appeared (the Mother of the Lord, hence the name 'Mater Domini'). Every year, especially in September and October, pilgrimages from all over southern Italy bring hundreds of thousands of the faithful to this vast religious complex and to the tomb of St Gerard, a Redemptorist and the saint of small villages, born in Muro Lucano (Potenza) in 1726 and died here in 1755, at the age of 29.

Worth visiting is the vast complex of the Sanctuary (the end point of Stage 6 of the Cammino), with its Museum, the old Basilica and, in particular, the Sala dei Fiocchi (Ribbon Room), whose walls and ceiling are covered with thousands of pink and blue ribbons left by mothers, as they still are today, in thanksgiving to the Saint. The Museum also holds a series of fine paintings of the miracles performed by the Saint, as well as the cell in which he lived. There are many restaurants, hotels and shops selling local produce.

From the square in front of the old sanctuary there is a wide view over the upper Sele valley, enclosed between the mountains of the Picentini Park (on the right bank of the Sele) and the Eremita and Marzano ranges (on the left bank).