The graceful oratory of the Virgin is located above the spring called “Ferruccia” since the end of the 15th century, hence the modern location in via della Ferruzza. The source was built by the Municipality outside the Porta Nuova di Sant’Andrea at the behest of the Podestà Antonio Ferrucci sent to Fucecchio by Lorenzo Il Magnifico in the semester March-September 1473. Above the source a tabernacle was built with the figure of the Virgin who was also called “Ferruccia”.
According to documents, on January 3, 1503, the eve of the feast of Santa Cristiana, the Virgin began to perform miracles “ditti virgo incepit facere miracula”. Since then an oratory was built around the image of the Virgin, known as the Church in 1533. In 1548, the day dedicated to the Virgin Ferruccia became a holiday.
The church was under the patronage of the Municipality which for a long time promoted its conservation until, at the end of the eighteenth century, it passed to the Chapter of the Collegiate Church of San Giovanni Battista by whose priests it is still officiated.
The exterior is preceded by a small but elegant loggia and by a staircase that descends to the ancient wash houses. Inside, the valuable 15th century fresco representing “Madonna and Child Enthroned, San Giovanni Battista and Sant’Antonio Abate“, executed in the summer of 1473, was restored in 1946. Already in 1800 the fresco was attributed to the school of Filippo Lippi. Before the restoration, only the figure of the Madonna and Child was visible as the Saints were framed in a painting, by the florentine Alessandro Rosi (1627-1697), depicting San Giovanni Battista and San Benedetto, preserved in the Civic Museum.