Two churches, two Byzantines jewels in the very heart of the village of San Lorenzo.

In the middle of Piazza Regina Margherita, on either side of the centuries-old (some say thousand-year-old) Elm tree, as a testimony to the Greekness of a privileged territory, rich in culture, having developed around a Lavra, stand the two churches of San Lorenzo: Proto-papal or Mother Church, dedicated to Santa Maria ad Nives and Auxiliary or Second Church, dedicated to Santa Maria della Ceramia.

The former (the Proto-papal church) houses several treasures worth visiting. A marble statue of la Madonna della Neve [Our Lady of the Snow] attributed to Antonello Gaggini, a painting portraying the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence of the Neapolitan Caravaggio school which, with the wooden statue of the Patron Saint belonging to the Municipality (a national monument) and other relics of a religious nature, complete this small Aspromontese hamlet’s artistic heritage.

In the second (the Auxiliary) church we find a tangible historical testimony to the centuries-old tradition of the icon of the Madonna della Cappella [Our Lady of the Chapel] which used to be placed on the altar here during the fortnight [two weeks of prayer before an important festivity]. The recently restored building has been opened again to the public as Museo delle Icone Bizantine [Museum of Byzantine Icons] and was the last church in the entire Tuccio Valley to give us the Greek rite.