ITINERARIES

In the lives of believers, pilgrimage has always been a significant moment, and one of strengthening in faith.

Pilgrimage belongs to the history of Christianity. An analysis of the History of Religions shows that it is a phenomenon with a universal character and tends to relate man to divinity. Alongside the religious motivations, cultural and relational stimuli are added.

In the land of the Gargano there are two religious itineraries one ancient, dating back to the first centuries of Christianity, and one recent: St. Michael in Monte Sant’Angelo and Saint Pio of Pietralcina in San Giovanni Rotondo. The entire Gargano is crisscrossed by the ways and paths of the Sacred. Routes that lead to places of devotion in the vicinity of villages (rural churches, St. Mary of Merino, St. Michael’s cave on Lake Varano…) and routes that move toward the great shrines: St. Michael above all, but also St. Matthew and the Incoronata.

The monastery stands today in all its majesty on the wooded slopes of a rise. A long flight of steps in the midst of the unspoiled nature of the place, or a carriage road are the alternatives to reach the monastery, at which numerous artistic testimonies are preserved in addition to ancient relics of saints and a rich library, where precious codices and manuscripts are kept.

Leaving the convent, continue on the downhill route, following the valley of Stignano. Passing the quaint town of San Marco in Lamis, which preserves intact the ancient charm of its terraced houses gathered around the Abbot’s Palace, now the town hall, we reach Stignano from which the second of the shrines on our itinerary takes its name: S. Maria di Stignano.

The monastic complex already mentioned around the 13th century, formed by a church and two beautiful cloisters with Baroque artistic testimonies, presents itself to the visitor as an oasis of peace surrounded in its surroundings by the ruins of numerous hermitages (hermitages carved into the rock), among which we mention the one dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The road we take descends toward S.Severo and is one of the oldest access roads to the Gargano is the Via Sacra dei Longobardi; a millenary path followed by pilgrims on their way to the sanctuaries on the promontory and on to Palestine. At the height of the S. Marco in Lamis train station located at the end of the valley, we must turn left, taking the “Pedegarganica” road. Follow the sign Manfredonia.

Continuing toward Manfredonia , we encounter the church of S.Maria di Siponto, (right, also clearly visible from the road). A cathedral of the ancient city of Siponto, now vanished, this church stands amid the ruins of an early Christian basilica and other ancient buildings; among the remains of various archaeological material one can admire for their uniqueness, columns, mosaics, capitals and sarcophagi.

In addition to a sought-after portal, the 12th-century crypt, where theories of columns alternate with ancient burials, ravishes by its suggestion. Outside the church proper, a long walkway skirts the archaeological area of the 4th-century

Not far from ancient Siponto stands the city of Manfredi, Manfredonia. This was the name given to the center that arose after the destruction of ancient Siponto at the behest of King Manfredi, son of Emperor Frederick II of Swabia.

A turreted city, with a mighty castle overlooking the marina, rich in churches and aristocratic palaces, Manfredonia gathers in the National Museum, located in the majestic rooms of the castle, numerous archaeological relics, among which emerge the Stele Daunie, particular artifacts of the ancient populations of this territory.

On the way up to Monte Sant’Angelo, it is worth stopping and admiring the landscape over the Gulf of Manfredonia. The Sanctuary of S. Maria Di Pulsano stands almost guarding the city’s wide gulf. The ancient 12th-century monastery (now fully restored and inhabited), rises above the heights that overlook the seaside center gateway to the Gargano.

The church is partly carved out of a natural cave full of charm and mystery, and the monastery complex, protected by massive walls, features an artistic portal decorated with zoomorphic reliefs and ancient coats of arms.

Monte Sant’Angelo is home to the thousand-year-old shrine dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel; this town is a true artistic vessel: old Romanesque churches, an ancient baptistery, a Norman castle and entire medieval districts still intact.

The Middle Ages are at home in Monte Sant’Angelo, where the Sanctuary of St. Michael, located in the bowels of the earth in a vast, damp natural cave, takes us back to ancient times, leaving the visitor to imagine droves of praying pilgrims by candlelight descending the hundreds of steps that penetrate underground. The theory of staircases, devotional shrines, chapels and sepulchres still accompanies us on our visit to this ancient Gargano shrine, which in the Middle Ages was the most important center of Christianity. The inner road among the green woods and still-operating farms takes us back to San Giovanni Rotondo the village along the via Sacra traveled by pilgrims.

The old via Sacra had in its route S. Giovanni Rotondo, where we find, at the gates of the village in the Capuchin monastery, the tomb of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, the Franciscan friar who marked the history of this corner of the Gargano and is venerated for the many miracles attributed to him.
Padre Pio, born Francesco Forgione, was born of humble parents in Pietrelcina, a small town in the province of Benevento, on May 25, 1887. When he was only 15 years old, he entered the Capuchin novitiate in Morcone, and after several stays at different convents of his order, including S. Marco la Catola and Foggia, he settled in the Franciscan convent of San Giovanni Rotondo.

It was in the choir of the church attached to this monastery and dedicated to St. Mary of Grace that he received the stigmata on September 20, 1918. From that day until his death, which occurred on September 23, 1968, his monastery was the destination of millions of pilgrims who benefited from his spiritual help and prayer.

The pilgrims who visit Padre Pio’s tomb and the new church today also linger at the monumental Way of the Cross that winds through the woods surrounding the convent of St. Mary of Grace and do not disdain a visit to the historic center of St. Giovanni Rotondo, which still retains some of the towers of the city walls solid and unaltered.