Monte Sant’Angelo, Italy

Since then, the site has been a destination for pilgrims, saints, kings, popes, historians and crusaders, and is one of the seven properties across the Italian peninsula which are included in the World Heritage site of The Longobards in Italy, Places of Power, 568 - 774 A.D.

Granted this official status by UNESCO in 2011, these properties are a testament to the achievements of the Longobards, a Germanic people who migrated from northern Europe to Italy in the 6^th century and developed their own specific culture as they ruled over vast territories.

The Sanctuary of St Michael was actually founded before the arrival of the Longobards, however it was adopted by them shortly after they conquered Gargano, a region where worship of the Archangel Michael was prevalent.

Pagan in origin, they had, by then, converted to Christianity, and they placed particular importance on the worship of this saint who had some similar attributes to Wotan, considered by the Germanic people to be their supreme god. 

This sacred shrine to St Michael Archangel consists of a natural grotto and a complex of overlapping structures, which were built in subsequent periods. 

From the upper level of the two-level sanctuary, an octagonal bell tower rises 27 metres into the sky, its eight-sided design reminiscent of the World Heritage site, Castel del Monte, also in Puglia. It was named the Torre Angioina, having been built during the Angevin reign.

Carved into the rock in the 13^th century, an 86-step staircase descends from the entrance portal to the Porta del Toro, a doorway so named because of the bull (toro) which is depicted in the fresco above it. The doorway leads into a porticoed courtyard.

Beyond the courtyard, the magnificent Bronze Doors, cast in Constantinople in 1076, open into the basilica with the imposing Grotta di San Michele Arcangelo at its centre.

An enthralling sight, it is a natural cave with a rocky vault which houses the main altar, the episcopal throne, the silver cross of Frederick II, the baptismal font and the marble statue of St Michael.

The historical and architectural importance of the cave is such that it was featured in a list of ten sacred caves from around the world in National Geographic magazine.

After its foundation in 490 A.D., the Sanctuary of St Michael became the centre point of the Via Michaelica, a pilgrimage route across Europe and the Middle East which connected monasteries dedicated to St Michael, from Skellig Michael in Ireland to Mount Carmel in Israel.

In the Middle Ages, the itinerary of spiritual redemption known as Homo, Angelus, Deus included a visit to the grotto in Monte Sant’Angelo (Angelus), as well as to the tombs of St Peter and St Paul in Rome and St James in Spain (Homo), and to the Holy Land in Palestine (Deus).