In the “Relazione familiare” (family report) on the State of Alvito, made in 1595 to Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio of Como, who was about to take possession of the fief of Alvito, the anonymous writer of the document also makes mention of the church of the Our Lady of Canneto.
In fact, speaking of the Melfa river, it says so:
«This river has its source above Picinisco five miles in a high and mountainous place, where there is a church called St Mary of Canneto and in the spring of the water one sees some sparks of gold coming out mixed with the water, which attached to the hand or to some cloth last thus for a little while, but then because of their subtlety they vanish».
The rapporteur, continuing to describe the course of the river, again notes that its waters first descend tumultuously and noisily over cliffs and crags towards Picinisco; then, having reached the plain below the town, they set in action various grain mills and cloth sheds, located along the banks. Fresh, clear waters and, at lower altitudes, teeming with exquisite trout.
The Church of Our Lady, the Melfa flowing at its foot, and the springs of the river, bursting from under a large boulder, glittering with golden flakes, were also at that time the suggestive visions of the Canneto Valley.