The charming small square building with its peculiar dome with pointed arches is an original piece of typical local architecture of the late 15th early 16th centuries, with Arabic, Norman and Gothic influences.
Characteristic is the solution used to support the corners of the dome with fan-shaped pendentives. An old popular belief has it that St. Crescentia, St. Vito’s nurse, had the power to ward off fear if you threw a stone into the chapel.
According to legend, God punished the pagan population of Conturrana, who did not listen to St. Vito’s preaching, with an avalanche that buried the village. Crescentia, who was with Vito and his guardian Modesto, transgressed the divine order not to look back and was turned to stone out of fright at seeing the village disappear under the huge boulders.
This happened in the place where the chapel is today. This village is believed to be buried under the huge pile of stones that can be seen in the nearby area called Valanga (litt. ‘avalanche’).
