The Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel, recognized in 2011 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, (a serial site for the very important Lombard remains) is one of the oldest and most venerated places of Christian worship in the West. Its origins date back to the 5th century, as narrated in the Liber de apparitione Sancti Michaelis in Monte Gargano, a Latin hagiographic text that recounts three appearances of the Archangel Michael between 490 and 493. According to legend, Michael appeared to the bishop of Siponto, pointing to a cave as a sacred place and promising protection against pagan enemies. This event marked the beginning of a cult that would spread throughout Europe.

The figure of Archangel Michael has its roots in ancient Chaldaean, Persian and Sumerian traditions as evidenced by the engraving in cuneiform characters the name of the god Mica-Il in Hebrew Mica El and in Latin Quis ut Deus (who like God) the clay tablet in the city of Ebla dating back to the third millennium before Christ. His very name, Michael, is derived from Chaldaic and means “Who is like God?”

The shrine developed around the cave, which became a pilgrimage destination since the early Middle Ages. Its importance grew with the arrival of the Lombards, who adopted it as a national shrine, contributing to its monumentalization and the spread of the Micaelic cult. The Gargano shrine became a model for other places of worship dedicated to the Archangel, such as Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy and the Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont.

This place represents a crossroads of history, faith and culture. The cult of the Archangel is intertwined with rituals related to nature, the miraculous waters of the cave and local agro-pastoral practices, as evidenced by the May 8 and September 29 festivals, which coincide with the seasonal cycles of transhumance.

Architecturally, the shrine has a complex multi-level structure with Romanesque and Gothic elements, including the famous bronze doors made in Constantinople and donated in 1076 by Pantaleon of Amalfi. The original layout of the cave consisted of two cavities divided by a rock septum, one to the north at a lower level, where the Angel is said to have left his footprints and where the altar of the Footprints was placed; the other, deep one housed the altar where the Angel is said to have laid his cloak and where the jar containing the miraculous water was located. Of later date is the two-bay gallery that reached the altar of the Footprints. The trapezoidal-plan nave, 7th century, consists of two orders of arches, and was accessed through the arch of St. Peter and Paul by climbing a masonry staircase carved into the rock. In the Lombard period, a new staircase was built by Romuald; later, the rock septum was pulled down and a second monumental staircase was built.

In the second half of the 13th century the complex, underwent radical transformations. Charles I D’Anjou has a nave built in front of the sanctuary, articulated in three bays and a quadrangular apse (the present Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament) covered by cross vaults. The bell tower is built, octagonal in shape, modeled after the towers of Castel del Monte.

In 1395, the monumental Gothic portal of access to the staircase (the one currently on the right) was built on the commission of the Angevin princess, Margaret, mother of Ladislaus, who is portrayed in a prayerful attitude at the feet of the Madonna and Child between Saints Peter and Paul in the archiacal lunette.

Bibliography

Liber de apparitione Sancti Michaelis in Monte Gargano (8th-9th cent.)

Apparitio Sancti Michaelis in Monte Gargano (BHL 5948-5951)

Codex Cavensis 4 (11th cent.) – Chronicle of Leo Marsicano

Chronicon Sancti Michaelis in periculo maris (12th cent.)

Registrum Epistolarum Gregorii Magni (6th cent.)

Cartulary of the Monastery of St. Mary of Tremiti (11th-15th cent.)

Bullarium Franciscanum (pontifical documents 13th-16th centuries).

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