The crosses and votive aedicules

On the territory of Controguerra some sacred icons are scattered, generally at the crossroads, which once kept "company" to the travelers who met them along the way. These are small brick structures, sometimes with niches for statuettes of saints, surmounted by a cross, generally in wrought iron. Some crosses are very elaborate and finely decorated with details of the Passion of Christ. The structures were built between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and in some cases have a particular meaning, recalling the existence of ancient churches or particular prayer missions.

In the month of May, the rosary was recited around these crosses and then celebrations were held, offered by the inhabitants of the area.

Currently there are six crosses still standing, but in the past there could have been more:

1. Cemetery cross in remembrance of the 1911 Missions. This cross is raised in the old part of the Colle Fruscione cemetery and commemorates the missions of the Franciscan friars in 1911. There are no decorations and the structure is very basic. On the base there is the inscription «Ricordo delle Missioni 1911»;
2. Cross ov the trivio at the crossroads between the roads leading to Controguerra, Corropoli and Colonnella-Alba Adriatica. Located in the San Rocco district, near the municipal sports field, this cross recalls the burial or removal of the last vestiges of the early medieval convent of San Benedetto al Trivio, already reduced to ruins in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The brick structure was built by Pasquale Iannetti in 1910, as an epigraph recalls. The cross that surmounts it is in wrought iron and features the elements of the Passion. At the center of the icon, on the side facing the crossroads, there is a niche containing a statuette of the Madonna;
3. Cross of Riparossa or Cona. Located at the end of Via Guglielmo Marconi, in the center of a clearing near the church of Cona, the cross today is placed on a small quadrangular brick structure, built in 2001, whereas previously it had a more modest base. On the side of the structure facing Via Guglielmo Marconi there is a niche containing a statuette of the Madonna. The cross is in wrought iron, with the elements of the Passion;
4. Edicule of St. Giovanni Battista. Raised in the early 2000s at the crossroads at the entrance to Via San Giovanni, this aedicule contains a bronze high-relief of St. John the Baptist;
5. Croce along the S.P. 2 towards Ancarano-Torano Nuovo (contrada San Biagio). It is a wrought iron cross with a brick base and a niche for a votive statue, currently empty. It is located along the S.P. 2, which connects Controguerra to Ancarano and Torano Nuovo, at the entrance to the tratturo called San Biagio, in the district of the same name, which descends towards Villa Quaglia (or di Faenza) and the Cirafella ditch (or di Faenza). The iron cross is not very elaborate and has, in the centre, the symbol (heart) of the Passionists;
6. Cross of the western entrance to the village. This cross is encountered along the S.P. 2, at the center of the crossroads located at the western entrance of the town, where the provincial road branches off which connects Nereto, Ancarano and Torano Nuovo to Controguerra, the southern ring road and the road which, crossing the Pazzano district, leads to Corropoli. The structure is plastered, except for an ornamental brick cornice, and has three niches containing statuettes of saints. The cross that surmounts the structure is in wrought iron, with the symbols of the Passion.