The legend tells of the apparition of Mary to two young shepherdesses, whom she asked to have a chapel built. On the occasion, miraculous waters gushed from the ground that held curative powers for the sick who flocked from all over.
The origin of this sanctuary is not well documented: we have the first certain information about the church in 1527, in the 'Book of the Parties' of Castiglion Fiorentino. The small church was enlarged in 1711, but the current Latin cross building with a barrel roof dates back to a renovation in the years 1874-87 by the Castiglionese architect Pietro Mancini.
The custom of drinking or bathing in its waters is certainly centuries-old, like a small version of Lourdes in Val di Chio that rises in a charming place.
