Legend of Madonna of the Visitation of Enna
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It is said that the statue, kept throughout the year inside the marble chapel and exhibited for the veneration of the faithful on the occasion of the feast of the Madonna della Visitazione in Enna, was purchased by Venice in 1412 by a delegation of inhabitants of Enna. The statue was transported by sea but a terrible storm wrecked the ship carrying it. The chest, with the simulacrum of the Virgin inside, was pushed up to the coasts of Messina. The news reached the inhabitants of Enna who ran to take back their statue, placed the box on a cart pulled by oxen and on 29 June 1412 the statue entered the city of Enna, then known as Castrogiovanni.
It was indeed on this day a miraculous event occurred: the nobles and the clergy competed to take the statue and transfer it to its chapel but no one was able to lift the statue, which suddenly became heavy. After useless attempts, the peasants were given the opportunity to try to lift the statue, it was then that they, without any difficulty, managed to lift the simulacrum of the Virgin and put it back in the chapel.
