On the island of San Nicola, in the Tremiti archipelago, the sanctuary of Santa Maria a Mare was built on a legend: that of the hermit who saw the Virgin Mary and was commissioned to build a majestic temple in her honor. The hermit on the indication of the Madonna found buried a treasure with which to build the sanctuary. Built in the Middle Ages, the abbey was modified in the 15th century, commissioned by the Lateran canons, who replaced the original façade with the current one in Istrian stone, while the portal now shows relief depictions of the Virgin Mary with saints and cherubs.
From the medieval period, the building preserves its rectangular layout with three naves. Inside, several works of great artistic value are kept, such as the wooden Cross, with Byzantine forms, a wooden statue of Santa Maria a Mare and a sixteenth-century Venetian polyptych.
Of extraordinary artistic value is the mosaic floor, which has remained almost intact in the central part of the building: dating back to the end of the eleventh century, it is a set of very small bricks depicting the eagle, the griffin and the lion, emblems of the strength of Christ.
