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Built in 1645, the church of Madonna del Pilone was constructed by wish of the Queen Regent Christine Marie of France to remember the miraculous rescue from the previous year of a girl from the river. The miracle was attributed to the intervention of an image of the Virgin of the Annunciation, which was placed on a votive pillar. The painting became such an item of devotion, that this church was built at the site, enlarged in 1779, and furnished with a baptistery in 1807. Repeated reconstructions have altered the interior, and the church retains only some of the original decoration consisting of the stuccoes attributed to Giovanni Andrea Casella and the cupola frescoes by Bartolomeo Guidobono. The main altar houses the miraculous icon dating from 1587, now thoroughly restored.
The miracle for which the church was built recalls that the riverbank nearby once housed a number of mills. A flour miller's daughter fell into the river at dusk. Her Mother, hearing her cries, but unable to see where she was to rescue her, knelt before a nearby shrine built next to the mill, depicting the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. Legend holds a miraculous shaft of light illuminated the spot where her daughter was, and allowed her to be rescued by neighbors. News of the miracle led to the erection of a church by 1645, which became a Parish church March 2, 1807. The picture of the Madonna behind the main altar recalls the event.
References:The Temple of Edfu is one of the best preserved ancient shrines in Egypt. It was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC.
Edfu was one of several temples built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom, including the Dendera Temple complex, Esna, the Temple of Kom Ombo, and Philae. Its size reflects the relative prosperity of the time. The present temple initially consisted of a pillared hall, two transverse halls, and a barque sanctuary surrounded by chapels. The building was started during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes and completed in 57 BC under Ptolemy XII Auletes. It was built on the site of an earlier, smaller temple also dedicated to Horus, although the previous structure was oriented east–west rather than north–south as in the present site.