The cave of the Archangel's apparition
At almost 800 metres on the Gargano, overlooking the gulf of Manfredonia, Monte Sant'Angelo is home to one of the oldest and most important shrines in the Christian world: the Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011, as part of the site "Longobards in Italy. Places of power". According to tradition, between 490 and 493 the Archangel Michael appeared several times in a cave on the mountain, and the bishop of Siponto, following his instructions, consecrated it as a church. It is the only church in the world, it is said, not consecrated by human hands.
For fifteen centuries the cave has been the destination of pilgrims from all over Europe: it was one of the great stops of the medieval pilgrimage routes, along the Via Francigena to the Holy Land, and the Lombards, who adopted Michael as their patron warrior saint, made it their national sanctuary. Kings, popes and saints, including St Francis, who out of humility did not enter and carved a cross on a stone, came here. You descend to the cave via a long staircase, passing through bronze doors cast in Constantinople in 1076, and enter the grotto, dimly lit, where mass is celebrated before a marble statue of the Archangel by Andrea Sansovino. The Lombard crypts below hold inscriptions and sculptures. The octagonal bell tower was built by Charles of Anjou.
Tip: the village has a Norman castle and the Rione Junno, a district of white houses; try the "ostia ripiena", a sweet of wafers, almonds and honey.
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