This is one of the most picturesque places in Monreale. The road leading to this sanctuary is the ancient Via Crucis, which starts at the Church of San Francesco, crosses the Salita delle Croci, and reaches the slopes of Monte Caputo.
This shrine, built in 1815 and enlarged in 1844, is linked to the legend of the young Monreale boy Matteo Giovan Battista Angelo Quartuccio, who saw an apparition of Our Lady of Sorrows with the dead Christ between her knees in 1812, and started a dialogue with her. Then Our Lady disappeared and Matteo returned to the village to tell this apparition to a large crowd. Then a new miracle took place: bread appeared in Matteo's hands that allowed the sick to be healed.
The church is terraced with a single nave, a barrel-vaulted roof and a high altar bordered by Ionic columns. The façade, which is visible from anywhere in the town of Monreale, has terraces and recesses. In the tympanum of the church, one can see the painted coat of arms of the Order of the Servants of Mary, i.e. 'SM', with a crown of seven lilies, symbolising the seven founding saints of the Order.
The floor plan has a single nave characterised by fluted pilasters with Ionic-type capitals. The hall is separated from the presbytery, which is rectangular and raised by three steps, by two fluted columns with Ionic capitals. The interior is devoid of decoration except for the presence of fluted pilasters with Ionic-type capitals. Among the decorative elements, we note a fresco by Francesco Manno depicting the Holy Spirit with a dove amidst figures of angels. Behind the altar is a large canvas recalling the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Matteo Quartuccio.
