The Project
The awakening of a heritage
In 1971, Santermano-born Don Ignazio Fraccalvieri was the first to describe the reservoir, illustrating its pictorial cycle and pointing out the numerous graffiti engraved on the walls. However, the historical and cultural potential of the site remained unnoticed until the early 2000s, when architect Giuseppe Fiorentino set up a multidisciplinary study group. Collaborators included:
– Roberto Caprara
– Franco dell’Aquila
– Domenico Caragnano
– Umberto Ricci
Research has revealed an intense occupation of the site, as evidenced by thousands of inscriptions dating from the 5th to the 15th century.
An Enhancement Project
Despite restoration work on the structures above, the complex and the cave have long remained unusable, causing disappointment among citizens, tourists and the scientific community. Today, the Sant’Angelo
Sanctuary enhancement project aims to:
Relaunch the cultural and tourist heritage: transform the site into a resource for the economic revitalisation of the area.
Integrate innovative solutions: installing information totems, panels, video projections and virtual restoration of pictorial elements.
Promote knowledge of the area: organise educational workshops, seminars and guided/self-guided tours, highlighting the rocky history, the cult of Sant’Angelo, sheep-tracks and transhumance.
To create a museum and didactic pole: to enhance the environments above, in synergy with the Alta Murgia National Park, to attract not only tourists and walkers of the Cammino Materano, but also the local population.
Promotion and involvement
A crucial phase of the project is dedicated to the tourist and cultural promotion of the shrine, through:
– Museum displays and information material.
– Social channels and dissemination seminars.
– Educational workshops for schools of all levels.
The aim is to transform the sanctuary into a cultural reference point, capable of reviving the history and spiritual heritage of Apulia and the Alta Murgia.