The first records of a parish church dedicated to Santa Maria in ancient Cerreto are documented as early as 1334, the year in which a bell was cast. The church performed parish functions until February 22, 1544, when Bishop Alberico Giaquinto-with the consent of feudal lord Diomede Carafa and the Universitas-ordered the suppression of the five existing parishes in old Cerreto, erecting the church of San Martino as a collegiate church. In 1587, the church of Santa Maria became the seat of a confraternity entitled “Jesus and Mary.” Shattered to the ground by the 1688 earthquake, it was rebuilt from scratch to a design by Giovanni Battista Manni.
