{"id":1505,"date":"2026-09-11T19:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/punto-di-interesse\/the-francesco-paolo-fischetti-historical-fund\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T10:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:52:22","slug":"the-francesco-paolo-fischetti-historical-fund","status":"publish","type":"punto-di-interesse","link":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/point-of-interest\/the-francesco-paolo-fischetti-historical-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"The Francesco Paolo Fischetti Historical Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/02_Fondo-Storico-Francesco-Paolo-Fischetti_divulgativo-ita.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Francesco Paolo Fischetti Historical Collection, housed at the \u201cCiro Angelillis\u201d Municipal Library in Monte Sant\u2019Angelo, is a collection of books of particular interest for the cultural history of the Gargano region and for the study of religions, art, and civilizations of the Mediterranean. The collection reflects the wide range of intellectual interests of Francesco Paolo Fischetti, who was born in Monte Sant\u2019Angelo in 1911 and died in Chieri in 2004, and who was a passionate scholar of the heritage of Monte Sant\u2019Angelo and the religious and artistic history of the region. The collection is currently classified by the ICCU\u2019s Italian Library Registry under the categories \u201cnational history, medieval sources, and art history.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-11-alle-18.58.58-e1789146007333-1024x675.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-11-alle-18.58.58-e1789146007333-1024x675.png 1024w, https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-11-alle-18.58.58-e1789146007333-300x198.png 300w, https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-11-alle-18.58.58-e1789146007333-768x507.png 768w, https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-11-alle-18.58.58-e1789146007333.png 1410w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>An Interdisciplinary Collection<\/strong> The library\u2019s collection reflects a broad interest in the history of ideas and religions, bringing together different disciplines and fields of research. Alongside historical and art-historical studies, the collection includes works on archaeology, philology, patristics, early Christian and Byzantine art, mythology, and the comparative history of religions. The collection also includes texts on the Eastern world, Islamic culture, the philosophical traditions of India and China, and various aspects of the religious culture of antiquity.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ancient Civilizations and the History of Religions<\/strong> A significant portion of the collection consists of works devoted to the religions and civilizations of the ancient world. Among the titles included are <em>*Epigrafia Latina*<\/em> by S. Ricci, patristic texts, studies on the cults and mysteries of the ancient world, and publications devoted to Magna Graecia. These works reflect the breadth of Fischetti\u2019s interests in the religious cultures of antiquity and in the processes through which myths, cults, and symbolic forms have evolved over the centuries.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Early Christianity, the East, and Artistic Traditions<\/strong> A second section includes studies on early and medieval Christianity and on the development of Christian artistic cultures. The collection includes works on the spread of Christianity, patristic studies, and early Christian and Byzantine art, along with works by leading art historians. It also features publications dedicated to the religious cultures and traditions of the East, broadening the perspective beyond the Latin and Mediterranean worlds.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Gargano and Local Culture<\/strong> Alongside its international focus, the Collection preserves a significant body of works dedicated to the history and culture of the region. These include studies on Monte Sant\u2019Angelo, the Sanctuary of San Michele, Apulian archaeology, and the linguistic and folk culture of the Gargano. The presence of works of a local nature alongside texts on religious history and archaeology highlights the desire to link the regional context to the broader cultural history of the Mediterranean.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Works of Francesco Paolo Fischetti<\/strong>: The library becomes even more interesting when considered alongside Fischetti\u2019s own scholarly and popular works. Among his best-known publications are <em>*Il Santuario garganico dell\u2019Apocalisse e la Tribuna di S. Giovanni Battista in Tomba* (known as the \u201cRotari\u201d Tribune)<\/em>, published in 1972, and   <em>Mercury, Mithra, Michael. Magic, Myth, and Mysteries in the Archangel\u2019s Cave <\/em>, published in 1973. This latest volume examines the sanctuary and the rocky landscape of the Gargano through an interpretation that links the cult of St. Michael, ancient religions, iconography, and symbolism. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Comparative Approach to the Sacred<\/strong>: The books in the collection reflect a consistent interest in comparing religious traditions, myths, symbols, and artistic forms. The presence of texts on mystery religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Asian philosophical traditions creates a bibliographic landscape in which the religious phenomenon is examined from different historical and cultural perspectives. This characteristic is one of the defining features of Fischetti\u2019s personal library.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>History, Archaeology, and Art History<\/strong> The collection also includes a substantial body of publications devoted to archaeology and art history, with a particular focus on antiquity, the early Christian period, the Byzantine world, and the Middle Ages. Conference proceedings and scholarly works reflect an interest in engaging with national and international research and help situate studies on the Gargano within a broader cultural history. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Personal Nature of the Collection<\/strong>: The library should not be viewed merely as a thematic collection, but also as a testament to its owner\u2019s intellectual journey. The variety of topics, the presence of specialized works alongside more general publications, and the interest in cultures that are geographically and chronologically distant allow us to reconstruct the areas through which Fischetti developed his research and interpretations regarding the heritage of Monte Sant\u2019Angelo. His reading reflects, in fact, a particular focus on the relationships between myth, religion, art, and the collective memory of the region.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>His association with the Centro Studi Garganici<\/strong> Fischetti was also a key part of Monte Sant\u2019Angelo\u2019s cultural life in the second half of the 20th century, and he is remembered for the role he played in the founding of the Centro Studi Garganici and the journal <em>*Garganostudi<\/em>*. His work helped to foster a local research community focused on the history of the Gargano, its monuments, and the cult of Saint Michael. Some of his writings remained in typewritten form and have been incorporated into the collection of the Municipal Library.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Collection as a Testimony to Local Scholarly Culture<\/strong> The importance of the Fischetti Collection therefore lies as much in the individual volumes as in the opportunity to view the collection as a testimony to the scholarly culture of Monte Sant\u2019Angelo in the second half of the 20th century. The library documents the relationship between local research and broader studies, between the history of the region and the comparative history of religions, showing how the Sanctuary of St. Michael and the Gargano have also been interpreted through a comparison with the great cultural traditions of the Mediterranean and the East. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Treasure Trove for Contemporary Research<\/strong>: Today, the Fischetti Collection is a resource of particular interest to scholars of local history, the history of religions, archaeology, art history, and the culture of Southern Italy. Its thematic richness makes it possible to reconstruct both the bibliographic resources used by a 20th-century scholar and an important part of the intellectual history of Monte Sant\u2019Angelo. When considered alongside the other collections of the \u201cCiro Angelillis\u201d Library, the Fischetti Collection helps to shape a historical library in which the local dimension engages with Mediterranean and European culture.  <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bibliography<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bertelli Buquicchio, G.<\/strong> (1997), \u201cMonte Sant\u2019Angelo,\u201d in <em>Encyclopedia of Medieval Art<\/em>, Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Campione, A., &amp; Otranto, G.<\/strong> (a cura di) (1999), <em>The Sanctuary of San Michele on the Gargano from the 6th to the 9th Century: A Contribution to the History of Southern Langobardia <\/em>, Bari, Edipuglia.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Derolez, R., &amp; Schwab, U.<\/strong> (1983), <em>*The Runic Inscriptions of Monte S. Angelo (Gargano)<\/em>*, Brussels, Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Fine Arts of Belgium.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fischetti, F. P.<\/strong> (1972), <em>The Gargano Shrine of the Apocalypse and the Tribune of St. John the Baptist in Tomba (known as the Rotari Tribune)<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo, La Garganica Printing House.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fischetti, F. P.<\/strong> (1973), <em>Mercury, Mithra, Michael: Magic, Myth, and Mysteries in the Grotto of the Archangel<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo, La Garganica Press.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fischetti, F. P.<\/strong> (1977), <em>Judeo-Christian Graffiti in the Grotta dell\u2019Arcangelo<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fischetti, F. P.<\/strong> (1981), <em>The Archangel Michael, Prince of the Anchorites<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fischetti, F. P.<\/strong> (1982), <em>Notes on Iconography and Symbolism in the Monuments of Ravenna<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fischetti, F. P.<\/strong> (1991), <em>*Michael: From Israel to Iceland*<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Otranto, G.<\/strong> (1990), <em>The Sanctuary of St. Michael on the Gargano in the Early Middle Ages<\/em>, Bari, Edipuglia.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Otranto, G., &amp; Carletti, C.<\/strong> (eds.) (1994), <em>The Cult of St. Michael and Michaelic Settlements in Southern Italy from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages<\/em>, Bari, Edipuglia.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Piemontese, G.<\/strong> (1997), <em>St. Michael and His Shrine. The Via Sacra Langobardorum <\/em>, Foggia, Bastogi.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cCiro Angelillis\u201d Municipal Library of Monte Sant\u2019Angelo<\/strong> (n.d.), <em>Francesco Paolo Fischetti Historical Collection<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Gargano Studies Center<\/strong> (n.d.), <em>Garganostudi<\/em>, Monte Sant\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1505","punto-di-interesse","type-punto-di-interesse","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/punto-di-interesse\/1505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/punto-di-interesse"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/punto-di-interesse"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/punto-di-interesse\/1505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/punto-di-interesse\/1505\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblioteca.montesantangelo.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}