ANCIENT ROAD SYSTEM

The Grotta di S. Angelo is located close to the Grumo-Santeramo sheep-track no. 93, which in turn led to the important Melfi-Castellaneta sheep-track: the route of the latter largely follows that of the ancient Appian Way.
The route of the Grumo-Santeramo sheep-track (tratturo) No. 93, used for transhumant herding, followed the road that connected Bari to Matera via the shortest route between the two centres. This was the route followed by the Byzantine general Maniace when, in 1042, he set out from Bari and reached the Matine area in a single night, where he took 200 peasants prisoners who were barbarously killed under the walls of the city of Matera, which had come to terms with the Normans.
If in the 8th-9th centuries Bari and Matera were small towns, by the 11th-12th centuries they had become the most important centres in central Apulia. In fact, Matera, after the abandonment of Metapontum in the mid-6th century, became the most populated centre in the Murgia in the Middle Ages; Bari, on the other hand, after the destruction of Canosa, became the seat of the Catapano, playing the role of capital of the Byzantine dominions in Apulia (Langobardia).
Another important road is the via Gravina-Santeramo, frequented in classical and protohistoric times, as testified by the archaeological finds discovered near its route.

TRAVELLING IN THE PAST

In the Middle Ages, people travelled mainly on foot; the means of transport used was the horse, the cart, the biroccino, the mule: Varro already wrote of the caravans of mules that transported produce from the rural centres of Apulia to the ports.
Journeys often took place at night, guided by the stars, ‘ad itineris nocturni demonstrationem’, says Jamsilla.
Transhumance also left evident traces with a network of roads and sheep-tracks, of a complex of infrastructures needed to accommodate the great mass of livestock and the shepherds themselves during their stops. To ensure transhumance, open spaces, fenced spaces (the jazzi), water supply (with wells and cisterns, adaptations of natural ponds known as lakes and/or votani), shelters for people and sanctuaries for the spirit were needed.
The ancient landscape in which the Santuario di Sant’Angelo is located, unlike how we perceive it today, was once occupied by forest.
Scoundrels, brigands and rebels found refuge in the jungle: the impassable and isolated roads were the ideal place to plunder travellers, to plunder goods, foodstuffs and animals.
Water sources and landmarks where to stop were essential and certainly one of these was Sant’Angelo located in an impervious spot in the woods of the Murgia area.
The karstic area has no surface hydrography, as water is quickly absorbed by the limestone soil. However, even in karstic areas there are small ‘lakes’ located at impermeable red soil deposits, such as Lake Travato, mentioned in a document from 1136.

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