Tourism and tourist places in Leni: The Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Terzito

The Sanctuary, placed in the centre of the isle of Salina in the territory of the commune of Leni, dates back to a remote period when a hermit built a sacred building with modest dimensions to use it for his solitary prayer and he set a delicate image of Our Lady.

In 1622 a woodsman found into ruins of an old building the picture made of ancient wood, representing the Virgin Mary which had belonged to the hermit.

It was so that the first sanctuary, bearing a copy of the original sacred image, was built.

The temple was restored in the second half of the XIX century and on the 21 July 1901 it was consecrated.

The sanctuary with a Latin cross plan is divided into three naves and shows refined and precious decorations.

Inside there is a wooden statue made by unknown author which shows Our Lady in the original shapes of the ancient picture.
At the middle altar there is a beautiful canvas on which is represented the Virgin with a hand-bell as amark of protecting, from high, the archipelago of Eolie.

The Sanctuary, said Terzito for its third rebuilding or because it is the third church of the archipelago, has been undergone to some important structural changes in the last decades on the front, surmounted by a marble statue of Our Lady have been included two bell-towers; the parvis has been repaired and ordered; the building that closes the mayor nave , finely decorated, has been enlarged.