The Cave of Madonna di Bisaccia is located outside the urban context, a few hundred meters away from the Sanctuary of Madonna di Bisaccia and precisely in Località Lame in Montenero di Bisaccia. It is an ancient sacred monument, a meeting place of the First Christians of Bisaccia to whom the Monternero inhabitants’ are very connected.
The Cave of Madonna di Bisaccia is connected to the Sanctuary of Madonna di Bisaccia through the Via Crucis way, often a reason for outdoor walks for the most sporty ones. It is assumed that its origin dates back to the 2nd or 4th centuries B. C. In it was venerated the ancient Byzantine Painting of the Virgin with Child Jesus, later transferred to the Sanctuary. Originally, the Cave was decorated with Byzantine frescoes and was adorned with furnishings, which today, unfortunately, have been lost due to karst erosion and above all to the men’s negligence.
The Cave is two meters high, has an almost square structure and the floor covered by more than a meter of alluvial deposits and straw, since up to a few decades ago, it was used for sheep. A peculiarity of this area is that it still preserves the fossils of shells, a sign of the presence of the sea in the previous Ere.
Together with the Sanctuary of Madonna di Bisaccia, the Cave is one of the most important places Molise coast, a destination for pilgrimages of faithful from neighboring regions.