The Legend of King Bove

The foundation of the Church of Santa Maria della Strada is linked to a legend widespread throughout Molise: King Bove had wronged a close relative. Had he fallen in love with her? Had he violated her? Was she his sister or daughter, like some Molisan Zeus? Did he need the Pope’s forgiveness, or permission to marry her? The old tales blur together: love turns into violence, permission becomes pardon.

The Pope imposed a penance: to build one hundred churches in a single night, each of a specific form and size, arranged so that they would all be visible from one another.

King Bove had no choice but to strike a deal with the Devil to accomplish the task. The Devil tore rocks from the mountains and hurled them down to the king, who assembled them into perfect churches, one after another.

But at the ninety-ninth church, with the first light of dawn breaking, the King repented: he realized he would lose his soul. He begged God for forgiveness. He was spared, but transformed into a stone ox on the façade of the Church of Santa Maria della Strada. The Devil, enraged, hurled a boulder at the bell tower, but it bounced off and became embedded in the ground. It is still there today, known as the “Devil’s Rock.”

Of the ninety-nine churches, seven were still standing in the nineteenth century, alongside this one: San Leonardo (Campobasso), Maria Santissima Assunta (Ferrazzano), Santa Maria di Monteverde (between Vinchiaturo and Mirabello), Santa Maria a Monte (Cercemaggiore), and the Cathedral of Volturara Appula.

The seventh remains uncertain.