“Il Museo lapidario collects stone materials found both inside the sanctuary and in other sites in the area surrounding the sanctuary. The most substantial core of materials and the beginning of the lapidary itself are primarily connected to the excavations carried out in the mid-Fifties of the last century by Mons. Nicola Quitadamo. These, conducted between 1949 and 1955, brought to light the structures related to the oldest phases of the sanctuary. The interventions had the immediate aim of restoring the evidences of the Swabian-Angevin age and creating functional structures for visiting the sanctuary. The excavations involved both the spaces inside the modern sanctuary and the immediately surrounding areas; inside, the discovery of some rooms under the floor of the rectory led to the finding of the so-called “Lombard gallery,” the current site of the Lapidary Museum, which was found to have been reused as a mass grave. The original facade of the “gallery” only came to light in 1974 when the wall that obstructed it was demolished. As for the Lapidary Museum, the excavations of the Fifties revealed a substantial heritage of materials from different eras and of various types. The devotional museum was established in 1989.”
Information about the Museums of the Basilica Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo
Via Reale Basilica, 127
71037 Monte Sant’Angelo (Foggia)
0884561150
santuariosanmichele@interfree.it
Source: MIBACT
