THE CULT OF WATER

The cult of water is as old as mankind, to whom the presence of water in caves located in areas with little or no surface water appeared to be the work of God.
There are numerous caves in which there is evidence of a prehistoric, protohistoric or classical water cult, later Christianised with dedication to St Michael.
The presence of water in the Santeramo in Colle cave leads one to think that an intense cult of dripping water, through ablutions, was practised there. It must also have been customary to draw water that pilgrims who came there carried away in special flasks.
The cult of cave waters is well documented in numerous sanctuaries in Apulia and Basilicata: Rossano di Vaglio, Chiaromonte, Sant’Angelo al Raparo, San Michele a Monticchio, Moliterno, Venosa.
We also remember Sant’Angelo in Grotta (Isernia), where there is a well for collecting dripping water, and Sant’Angelo delle Ripe, also known as Romitorio di San Michele, which is the largest cave
Abruzzo dedicated to the cult of the Archangel and from which numerous prehistoric artefacts come.
The dripping water collected not only in the pond at the bottom of the second corridor, but also in a series of basins at the base of the walls.
The intense frequentation, attested by the hundreds of graffiti present, suggest that the Santermo cave was already an object of interest in classical or pre-classical times and that an intense cult of dripping water was practised there, probably based on ‘trust’ in ‘salutiferous’ waters.
The contact with the rock of the walls, from which sacred water oozed, would have guided the pilgrim along his route; he would have clung to the rock to find stability and security in an often slippery path; he would have carved his name or simply a cross or a symbol on the rock, as testimony to his passage or to invoke divine protection.
The walls of the cave preserve numerous inscriptions, many of them superimposed on each other in an inextricable manner, almost as if the act of writing fulfilled its function as a ritual gesture of dedication.
The presence of numerous areas of the smooth walls, evidently due to intense contact (the contact of the rock surfaces leads on the one hand to their smoothing, and on the other to the depositing of grease with the consequent alteration of the calcification typical of the karstic phenomenon), suggests that the very act of touching the rock was a genuine ritual gesture that allowed for a direct material participation of closeness and belonging.

GRAFFITI AND INSCRIPTIONS

Of extreme interest are the hundreds of inscriptions of crosses, names, symbols, invocations, with which the faithful asked for divine protection or simply wished to leave a testimony of their presence in this sacred cave.
Their sheer number denotes the great frequentation of the site.
The sign most commonly found here, as in other pilgrimage sanctuaries, is the cross.
It represented the affirmation of the worshipper’s Christian identity, but we must also think about the degree of literacy: there were few people who could read and write. For those, signing was done by putting a cross on documents as well.

MONOGRAMMATISED CROSSES

Dating a graffiti cross is a very difficult task.
Some, such as the monogrammatic crosses in the cave, would, according to prevailing doctrine, become established in Rome in the second half of the 4th century, but are generally not encountered after the 5th century, providing an important chronological reference for the Santeramo sanctuary.
The monogrammatical crosses in the cave are of extreme interest as, according to prevailing doctrine, they were established in Rome in the second half of the 4th century, but generally not encountered after the 5th century, providing an important chronological reference for the sanctuary of Sant’Angelo at Santeramo in Colle.
The apographs of the graffiti reproduced here represent only a small selection of those found on the walls of the Grotta di Sant’Angelo.

They are normally extremely small in size and are reproduced here enlarged out of scale.
The pilgrim asked for divine protection.

The invocation that recurs most of all is mem(ento) d(omine):
‘Remember, Lord’, also present in the Greek equivalent, which attests to the frequentation of the cave by Hellenophones.

But there is also no lack of requests addressed to other pilgrims to pray for him or for their deceased loved ones:
‘Remember Mafredo (son) of Lupo and his nephew Eliseo. I am present Nandolfo’.
‘Remember Germano’
‘Remember Mamberto (son) of don Onorio’.

We still know the names of other pilgrims:
● Colaus (or Nicholas)
● Sabino
● Vitale
● Bella Bella

SANT’ANGELO 4.0 PROJECT

Co-design procedure called by the Municipality of Santeramo in Colle, with Resolution no. 81 of 18/06/2024 and with Determination no. 1196 of 16/07/2024, for the
valorisation of the Grotta di Sant’Angelo complex and for the identification of a Third Sector organisation as concessionary of the site.

Administration:
● Municipality of Santeramo in Colle

Determination of concession:
● Determination 3rd SECTOR SOCIO CULTURAL SERVICES nr.555 of 24/09/2024

Project leader:
● ARCHEOCLUB D’ITALIA APS ‘DON IGNAZIO FRACCALVIERI’ DI SANTERAMO IN COLLE

Partner:
● ALIMURGY
● ANTROS PUBLISHER – MATHERA
● ARCHEOCLUB ‘SANTE ZIRIONI’ OF ACQUAVIVA DELLE FONTI
● ARCHEOGRUPPO E. JACOVELLI OF MASSAFRA
● LAMALUNGA ASSOCIATION SANTERAMO
● ASSOCIAZIONE TURISTICA PROLOCO UNPLI ‘G. TRITTO’ SANTERAMO IN COLLE
● COLLETTIVO LEN
● MUSEUM OF THE TERRITORY OF PALAGIANELLO
● POLIEDRIKA APS – CASSANO DELLE MURGE
● SNONO STUDIO SRL
● TRIPECO

Supporters:
● PLASTIC FREE

Exhibition Content Working Group
● ROBERTO CAPRARA (†): Inscriptions and graffiti, Rock and medieval archaeology, Micaelic cult
● DOMENICO CARAGNANO: Pictorial decoration, Art history, Rock and medieval archaeology
● FRANCO DELL’AQUILA: History of the Territory, Cave and Medieval Archaeology, Cave and Medieval Archaeology, Micaelic Cult
● GIUSEPPE FIORENTINO: Scientific co-ordination of the exhibition programme, Territorial and environmental framework, History of architecture, Environmental protection, Conservation and valorisation
● VINCENZO IANNUZZI: Geology

Exhibition Work Group
● GIUSEPPE FIORENTINO: Coordination, exhibition and exhibition design, preliminary graphic design of illustrative panels, logotype
● CHIARA CAROLI: support for the design of graphics, panels and exhibition layouts
● ANASTASIA LAZAZZERA: display systems, backlit panels, totems and external signage
● MICHELE PETRUZZELLI: executive graphic design of illustrative panels and signage


Volunteers:
all the volunteers of the Archeoclub d’Italia ‘don Ignazio Fraccalvieri’ APS and partner associations who contributed to the realisation of the project and took care of the communication aspects, and in particular
● IRENE CAPURSO BARBERIO
● GIUSEPPE DOTE
● MARZIA FIORENTINO
● LUCA LEONE
● FILIPPO NATUZZI
● MICHELE PETRUZZELLI
● LETIZIA SCALERA
● MARCO SIMONE
● GIANLUCA STASOLLA

Sponsor:
● SNONO STUDIO: Three-dimensional tactile models, braille panels, virtual reality
● LAZAZZERA LTD: Display stands, backlit panels, signage and totems
● BALDASSARRE TIPOGRAFI: Printing of illustrative panels and signs
● BCC SANTERAMO IN COLLE: Virtual restoration of pictorial decoration

The board of the Archeoclub d’Italia APS ‘don Ignazio Fraccalvieri’ of Santeramo would like to thank the partners who believed in and adhered to the project, the working group that took care of the exhibition contents and setting up, all the volunteers, the sponsors and the administrations involved, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Metropolitan City of Bari, the Alta Murgia National Park – Unesco Geopark.
Many thanks

The President of the Archeoclub d’Italia APS ‘don Ignazio Fraccalvieri’
Sant’Angelo 4.0 project coordinator
Antonio Laselva

The activities of the partners, volunteers and members of the Working Group were performed free of charge with the common aim of guaranteeing the conservation and enjoyment of the site for the community, promoting knowledge of the cultural and environmental emergencies of the Alta Murgia, and paying tribute to the scholars who have taken an interest in the monument during their lives. At the same time, they hoped to stimulate further initiatives and research for the knowledge of the sanctuary of Sant’Angelo in Santeramo.

 Boards

Ti chiediamo di non copiare questo contenuto.
Scroll to Top