At the crossroads of Via Sabaudia and Via Monte Circeo, in the area that takes its name, “La Cona”, from the chapel, stands the Maris Stella, a small place of devotion dedicated to Mary “Star of the Sea”.
Beauty, grace and compassion are the virtues of the Holy Virgin Star of the Sea, protector of travellers at sea. A Marian cult widespread in many seaside places, its title is said to come from some verses of the “First Book of Kings” (18:41-45). It was dear to many saints and figures of Catholic theology, such as Saint Jerome, Saint Isidore of Seville, Alcuin, Paschasius Radbertus and Rabanus Maurus. It was also very popular with the local population. The chapel dedicated to the Maris Stella originally stood in the middle of the important crossroads where the road down from the old town formed a triangle leading to the main roads towards the sea and the mountain. After the reclamation works the crossroads was widened and became square, so the building had to be moved back a few metres and was rebuilt from scratch. All its furnishings were lost, both during the move and above all in the great upheaval of the Second World War. A serious loss is the sacred image once inside the chapel, a fresco painted on the wall, which explained the origin of its name. The present building has a single nave with many pointed arches that lengthen its perception, enlarging an otherwise cramped space.
The only document on the history of this “cona” is a notarial deed by which the “Confraternity of the Sorresca” bought this small chapel in 1898 from its owner, Clotilde Ceccarelli.
This purchase gave rise to a long tradition that continues today, as the two images of the Maris Stella and the Sorresca, both a Madonna emerging from the waters, are often linked. The Cona is in fact an official stop on the route that, on the feast day – Whit Monday – winds from the baronial castle to the sanctuary on Lake Paola. While this pilgrimage is now made only on foot, in ancient times it was possible to sail between the two churches thanks to the Fossa Augustea (a Roman canal).
