"Black Madonna"

Some of you people who read "Litlequeen Rules". Saw that she posted this: http://litlequeenrules.blogspot.com/ (the first post)
She said here that the big church up on the mountain (here in Sicily). "Tindari" Is called ,the Church of the Black Madonna!
I don't know what that is or who it is, but all I know is this. (Copied from Wikipedia)

A Black Madonna or Black Virgin is a statue or painting of Mary in which she is depicted with dark or black skin, especially those created in Europe in the medieval period or earlier. In this specialized sense "Black Madonna" does not apply to images of the Virgin Mary portrayed as explicitly black African, which are popular in Africa and areas with large black populations, such as the United States.

That's strange, here it says that the "Black Madonna" is suppose to be Mary?!?!

The Black Madonnas are generally found in Catholic areas. The statues are mostly wooden but occasionally stone, often painted and up to 75 cm tall, generally dating from between the 11th and 15th centuries. They fall into two main groups: free-standing upright figures and seated figures on a throne. The pictures are usually icons which are Byzantine in style, often made in 13th or 14th century Italy. Their faces tend to have recognizably European features. There are about 450-500 Black Madonnas in Europe, depending on how they are classified. There are at least 180 Vierges Noires in France, and there are hundreds of non-medieval copies as well. Some are in museums, but most are in churches or shrines and are venerated by devotees. A few are associated with miracles and attract substantial numbers of pilgrims.

Okay, so here we found out that the "Black Madonna" is a Catholic. Thank Goodness! Because she seems kind of scary. If you look at the pictures of her here on this link you can see why I said that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Madonna
To learn more check this website out! http://www.interfaithmarianpilgrimages.com/pages/blackmadonna.html

Well,I hope you all in joyed that! Bye!