The earliest nucleus of the building can be recognized in the architectural structure of the so called oratory of the Cross;a vaulted hall dated most likely to the XII century.The ancient sacred place takes its name from a fifteenth-century fresco representing a scene of Crucifixion;which is still preserved there;though moved from its Baroque altar in 1991.The Benedictine Sisters;saying their prayers before the picture;saw blood gushing from Christ's chest.They saved the blood in a few cruets which were stolen in 1570;carried to Venice and finally brought back to the town in 1934.Thus the building of the church started from the chapel of the Cross.It was dedicated to Saint Catherine and;at the beginning of the eighteen century;it was covered with precious and refined stuccoes;carried out by the cultured master Giovan Battista Gianni from Cerano d'Intelvi;who operated in the Abruzzi in the early eighteen century.