The Sanctuary of San Michele - Monte Sant'Angelo, Italy, ID = 1318-007
N 41° 42.465 E 015° 57.280
33T E 579424 N 4617769
This location is part of the series "Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.)". The Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, sometimes called simply Monte Gargano, is a Catholic sanctuary on Mount Gargano.
Waymark Code: WMR7EN
Location: Puglia, Italy
Date Posted: 05/22/2016
Views: 2
It is the oldest shrine in Western Europe dedicated to the archangel Michael and has been an important pilgrimage site since the early Middle Ages. The historic site and its environs are protected by the Parco Nazionale del Gargano.
After the Gothic War (535-554), Byzantium lacked the power to maintain its holdings in Italy and the Lombards successfully conquered southern Italy by the end of the 6th century. Grimoald I controlled the area as Duke of Benevento from 647-662; when he became King of the Lombards in 662 he passed on the region to his son, Romuald I, who renovated the sanctuary and encouraged its use as a pilgrimage site.
The complex of buildings consists of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Tumba, damaged in 1942, and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The massive, octagonal campanile was built in the late 13th century by Frederick II as a watchtower. It was turned into a bell tower by Charles I of Anjou.
Behind a forecourt the sanctuary presents a portico of two Gothic arches, the right one of 1395 by the local architect Simone, the left one a reconstruction of 1865. From the portico steps lead down to the low arched nave. The cavern can be accessed from a Romanesque portal, called the Portale del Toro ("Gate of the Bull"): the doors, in bronze, were made in Constantinople in 1076, the donation of an Amalfitan noble. They are divided in 24 panels portraying episodes of angels from the Old and New Testaments.
Monte Sant'Angelo was a popular pilgrimage site on the way the way to Jerusalem; pilgrims travelled from as far as the British Isles to visit the “Celestial Basilica”. Among the pilgrims who visited the Saint Michael Archangel Sanctuary were many popes (Gelasius I, Leo IX, Urban II, Alexander III, Gregory X, Celestine V, John XXIII as Cardinal, John Paul II), saints (Bridget of Sweden, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas) emperors, kings and princes (Louis II of Italy, Otto III, Henry II, Matilda of Tuscany, Charles I of Naples, Ferdinand II of Aragon).
Francis of Assisi also visited the Sanctuary, but, feeling unworthy to enter the grotto, stopped in prayer and meditation at the entrance, kissed a stone, and carved on it the sign of the cross in the form “T” (tau).
Type: Site
Reference number: 1318
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