The old people say that it was a repentant brigand who dug a small chapel in the rock. It is also said that that brigand later became, as a result of his stay with the community of Cirigliano, a person to whom the townspeople entrusted their children in learning to write and read. Of course, the lessons took place at the place where the cave now stands.

Donato Grosso, born in 1846 in Avigliano (Pz), arrived in Cirigliano as a vigilante on the construction of the new road, after serving 19 years in prison. The mayor of the village invited Donato to give schooling to the youth, as he was one of the few who could read and write. Classes were held in contrada Grotta, where the repentant brigand had been entrusted with a plot of land, and the boys, in addition to schooling, were made to plant trees and plants. During these years excavation of the large boulder began with the aim of carving out a small place of prayer. During Holy Week the repentant Brigand went to teach the children, carrying a heavy wooden cross on his shoulders as a sign of penance.

The Brigand died in 1937 at the age of ninety-one. Left in his memory is the megalithic stone that inside now houses Our Lady of the Cave, protector of all wayfarers. On the last Sunday in May a procession with the statue of the Assumption leaves the village and makes its way to the cave, where the statue goes to replace the icon.