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The hermitage of the Beata Vergine of the Soccorso

The hermitage of the Beata Vergine of the Soccorso is located about 2 km from Minucciano on the top of a hill which is accessed from the road that leads to Pieve San Lorenzo from  Minucciano.
Originally it was a hospitable place for the reception of pilgrims and wayfarers. The establishment of the confraternity dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Soccorso, by the then Bishop of Luni, dates back to 1555, with the aim of maintaining the cult in agreement with the parish priest of Minucciano. Over time the custody of the oratory was entrusted to the care of the hermits or hermits, still present, the first of which we know of was a certain Romei from the parish of Gorfigliano, appointed on 13 July 1659 with subsequent episcopal approval.

Today's church has a Latin cross plan, a single nave with two side chapels, added in the 18th century to the previous building from the end of the 15th century, which includes an apse with presbytery and main altar. The sanctuary is surrounded by a park, inside which there is an archaeological site where copies of some stele statues are placed (now preserved in the museum dedicated to them in Pontremoli) and found on site during the construction of a parking lot in the 60s.

The stele statues depict stylized male and female characters accompanied by some characteristic elements of their armament or jewelry and constitute an important testimony of prehistoric and protohistoric civilizations that have affected the Lunigiana area over a long period of time, in starting from the third millennium BC and up to the dawn of the historical period, around the sixth century. B.C