The sanctuaries of the Gargano: discovering religious tourism

The Gargano as well as being an incredible place for the crazy amount of natural wonders is also rich in sacred places and religious culture. When planning a holiday here, we suggest including a visit to the sanctuaries of the Gargano in your itinerary. Indeed, Christianity has inhabited the spur of Italy for centuries. Characters like Padre Pio, fundamental to the history of all believers, have passed through here.

All this has given the Gargano an artistic-religious heritage that plays an important role from all points of view: spiritual, artistic, historical and cultural. For centuries this land has welcomed thousands of pilgrims a year who arrive along the ancient Via Sacra Langobardorum. A route that reaches Monte Sant’Angelo crossing all of Italy from the Chiusa in Val di Susa to then arrive in the Pavia area, passing through Tuscany and the Abruzzo passes until it reaches the Gargano.

The sanctuaries of Monte Sant’Angelo

The main destination is the cave of San Michele Arcangelo, which is why Monte Sant’Angelo is defined as a sacred city. This place is of such importance because, according to tradition, the Archangel Michael appeared to protect the city from barbarian assaults between 490 and 493 AD. and already at the time a church was built near this cave. Some curiosities concerning it are the «pozzetto» located behind the altar, into which a drop of water from the rock falls incessantly. Furthermore, the museum at the entrance to the cave preserves objects dating back to the Bronze, Imperial and Byzantine periods as well as pagan and early Christian frescoes.

Abbey of Santa Maria di Pulsano

The Abbey of Santa Maria di Pulsano is also located near Monte Sant’Angelo. It was built in the sixth century on Colle Pulsano with overhangs of over 200 meters. What today serves as an apse was obtained from a natural cave. Over the centuries, the Abbey has been the place of monks, anchorites and cenobites who dedicated themselves to contemplation and asceticism. Outside it is still possible to see part of a fountain which was considered a baptismal font built for the refreshment of pilgrims. All around the building there are numerous hermitages, 24 of which have been registered.

Some of these cells are accessible only with ladders and ropes connected by a network of paths and a real water network of channels dug into the rock to convey the water. Today the monks with constancy and passion take care of the hermitages, heavily vandalized in the past years, and guarantee visits where possible.

Thanks to the help of thousands of people and on the initiative of the monks, the hermitages achieved first place in the 5th census of “Places of the Heart” in 2008. The abbey is also the scene of the characteristic festival on 8 September, when the faithful leave in procession from Monte Sant’Angelo, reaching the complex on the back of mules. Monte Sant’Angelo has recently been included in the Via Francigena, part of a bundle of routes, which lead pilgrims from Western Europe, in particular from France, to Southern Europe up to Rome and then to Puglia.

Sanctuaries of the Gargano: the Siponto Abbey

Among the sanctuaries of the Gargano we suggest a visit to the minor basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore di Siponto. It is know also as the Basilica of Siponto. Its characteristic is the typical Apulian Romanesque architecture with precise Islamic influences. In recent years it has become even more known thanks to the installation by the artist Edoardi Tresoldi. A work so beautiful and evocative that it was included among the top ten installations in the world in 2016. It is a metal mesh that reconstructs the ancient Roman basilica in 3D, exactly above its remains. These are just the most famous of the religious sites on the Gargano. Consider visiting them with the help of a guide to learn more about the history behind these places.