Located in the ancient Rione Fondovico, the Crypt of St. Michael looks over the Gravina, a splendid example of the cult of Michael in Apulia. The feast of St. Michael of the Caves is celebrated every 8 May in commemoration of the legendary apparition of St. Michael in a cave on Monte Sant’Angelo. For the occasion, residents of the area decorate the street with balloni (coloured material stretched between the houses).
Carved out of a block of tufo, the crypt is the most significant rock church in the area and was the first cathedral. The rectangular building has five naves, supported by 14 stone pillars. The church is distinguished for its frescoes which include one of Christ Pantocrator between St. Paul and St. Michael. The first apse also contains three altars, three statues in plaster and stone of the three archangels which date to the 16th and 17th centuries, and a medieval arcosolium (arched recess used a tomb). In the adjoining cave, the human skulls and bones displayed are attributed to the martyrs of the Saracen attack in 999 C.E. but more probably belong to corpses brought here between the 17th and 18th centuries.
Apulia Film Commission
Cineporti di Puglia/Bari — c/o Fiera del Levante - Lungomare Starita 1 — 70132 Bari
Phone: +39 080 9752900
Fax: +39 080 9147464
Email: email@apuliafilmcommission.it
