Cent. 19th 

In 1613, on the road for Palombaio-Ruvo, heading west out of the town, there was an ancient chapel dedicated to Santa Maria della Stella. This church was also known as Santa Maria dei Votani due to the presence nearby of natural cisterns (votani) used to collect rainwater to soak linen. There is still a large cistern next to the church, la Pescara della Madonna della Stella, no longer used for rainwater and long since converted into a public park. At the beginning of the 1800s, the crumbling chapel was completely rebuilt. Two religious women, devotees of the Madonna, Teresa Valentini and Mariangela Savino, dedicated themselves to the project and gathered donations for the building work. The town council wished to contribute to the work, donating the stone left over from the “Porta Madonna”, which in that year (1822) had been demolished, next to the Chiesa del Purgatorio. When the work was completed, an inscription was made on the architrave: “D.O.M. –PIETATE FIDELIUM ERGA DEIPARAM – HOC SACELLUM RESTAURATUM – A.D. MDCCCXXII”. Towards the middle of the 19^th century, the church became the base of the charitable association “Ospizio di Santa Maria la Stella” which brought assistance to the sick and the needy. With the laws introduced between 1860 and 1866, the church and the charity were handed over to the State who entrusted it to the assistance associations of the local authority.