The parish church of Santa Maria is a little church of ancient origin, dating back to before the year 1000. The title of "parish" - meaning the mother church for other churches with the privilege of keeping the baptismal font - is a testament to its origin and the role it played as a beacon of religiosity for the area.
In the fifteenth century, the nearby church of San Fermo (now destroyed) and the church of San Pietro in Bodo (still existing in the early hills of Sarcedo) were subject to the parish.
With the restorations of the 1990s, many frescoes from the 14th and 15th centuries hidden under the plaster were uncovered; the beauty of the fifteenth-century fresco depicting the "Madonna on a throne with the Child and Saints Chiara and Marta of Bethany", attributed to the school of Michelino da Besozzo, a master of international Gothic, was fully appreciated. The foundations of the ancient apse were also found and from a survey of the floor, black and white mosaic tiles were discovered.
Notable is the main altar in wood with fluted columns and the side altar dedicated to San Rocco (initially dedicated to Santa Teresa). The appearance of this little church has been altered by architectural changes made in the 1920s: the ceiling covered the wooden trusses and the walls were raised by 1.5 meters, allowing for the insertion of lunette windows.
On the outside, one can appreciate the charm of the building with its exposed stone walls and the simple yet striking bell tower. The entire property of the church is surrounded by a wall that once enclosed the parish cemetery.
At this parish, a strong devotion is felt towards the Madonna Addolorata, a devotion that dates back to the mid-seventeenth century with the establishment of the Confraternity of the Black Habit at the behest of the then parish priest Lazzaro Lazzaroni. Every year, in the springtime, a procession takes place through the fields coinciding with the fourth Sunday of Lent. In the days leading up to the feast, the inhabitants of the Santa Maria district beautify the area by planting evergreen trunks and adorning the church with colored paper flags. The entire village hears for days the sound of the small bells rung by hand directly in the bell chamber. On the feast day - which is also the most important "sagra" of Zugliano - the statue of the Madonna Addolorata, supported by a decorated wooden canopy with floral motifs, is carried on the shoulders of the young people.
