Madonna della Greca, Medieval church in Locorotondo, Italy

Madonna della Greca is a church in Locorotondo with a bell-shaped front facade decorated with a stone rose window and statues of Saints Peter and Paul at its corners. The interior holds several artworks, including a polyptych of the Virgin of the Roses positioned above the High Altar.

The church was first built between the 7th and 8th centuries, and the present structure was supposedly erected outside the town walls in 1481 on the initiative of Pirro Orsini del Balzo, prince of Taranto, because land inside the narrow urban enclosure was lacking. The earliest documented record of the church, however, dates from 1520.

The dedication to Santa Maria della Greca recalls the Greek Orthodox rite once present in Locorotondo and the Marian cult brought by refugees from their homelands. A similar title appears in the ecclesia Sancte Marie Grece of Mesagne, documented on 1 October 1260. Inside, the Virgin of the Roses polyptych with St Lucy, St Peter, St Paul and St Oronzo was commissioned in the 16th century by Baron Ottaviano Loffredo.

The church sits at the entrance of the old town and is easy to reach while exploring Locorotondo's center. Morning or early afternoon visits work well, as natural light illuminates the interior and highlights the artworks more clearly.

The interior columns display elaborate classical carvings with putti and sirens alongside motifs from the animal and plant kingdoms. These details show the craftsmanship of sculptors who blended both sacred and secular imagery into the design.