| The church was built on the ruins of the old Parish Church of Casale di Pozzo Magno, destroyed by the Saracens in the 15th century, as an inscription on a holy-water basin testifies. The miraculous apparition of the image of the Virgin on a surviving wall of the old church in 1595 led the population of Presicce to rebuild it in 1598. The works finished after four years and the building was given to Minor Franciscans arrived at Presicce thanks to Baron De Cito, who was the designer of the church. The Franciscans realized the first convent in 1603 and it was considered the prototype of the convents of the Franciscans in the region, even if its position as regards the church is completely anomalous. In fact there is not a total bond between the convent and the church, they communicate only through a corner at the back of the church. The Franciscans made changes only in the interior of the church, the external façades of the building still have their sixteenth-century features. The Franciscans Friars stayed in the convent until 1866 when many monastic communities were abolished. The church passed to the Deanery of Presicce and no function was celebrated. |