Church of Santa Maria la Stella in Pedara
The Church of Santa Maria la Stella in Pedara is a small religious building with a characteristic octagonal plan.
It was built in 1735 in the place where an ancient votive aedicule stood which, according to what is reported in an eighteenth-century source , was merged with the new building constituting the current central altar. The building was seriously damaged by the bombings of 1943 and restored at the end of the nineties.
The simple flat rectangular facade is made up of one of the sides of the octagonal factory. Of particular value is the trabeated portal made of lava stone ashlars which features decorations of volutes and acanthus leaves. Above the portal there is a circular window, also made of lava stone ashlars, which has the same decorative motifs as the portal. A second portal made of lava stone blocks opens along one of the south walls.
The interior, with a centric plan oriented towards the octagonal hall and a small main chapel with apse, presents a simple decorative apparatus in eclectic style.
Of particular value is the ancient fresco located on the main altar which depicts the Madonna with Angels, which was originally located in the ancient votive aedicule, of which the building is the extension.
Perpetual Eucharistic adoration is practiced in the church.
