Chiesa Santa Maria di Piedigrotta

The fishing families of Mergellina had already built a church on this site when, in 1353, the Virgin Mary appeared to a Benedictine monk, a nun and Pietro the Hermit (later to become Pope Celestine V; telling them to build her a church. She was taken at her word and the church was consecrated within the year. Since then, the church has remained the central focus of the Festa di Piedigrotta, celebrated on 8 September.

Originally, the facade faced the rock, or grotta, to which the church owes its name (piedigrotta means 'foot of the cave'), but in 1553, it was reversed to face the city. In 1853, Enrico Alvino added the current neoclassical facade.

Inside, it's the 13th-century wooden statue of the Madonna con Bambino (Madonna with Baby) that the faithful come to see.