Eremo di San Michele, Cave church and hermitage in Foglianise, Italy.
Eremo di San Michele is a cave church and hermitage built into a mountainside in Foglianise. The site spans several levels with the church occupying the upper portion and containing 17th-century frescoes, while the lower sections housed monks in cells carved directly from the rock.
The site was founded in the 7th century by the Lombards following their conversion to Catholicism through the evangelization of Saint Barbatus of Benevento. Later centuries brought artistic enrichment including 17th-century frescoes and a bell dated to 1587 that continue to mark its religious identity.
The name comes from Saint Michael, the protector of this place, and visitors can still sense the devotion in the preserved spaces today. Pilgrims leave prayers and small offerings on the hermitage walls, showing how the faith remains alive here.
Visiting is most comfortable in good weather since the paths are uphill and sometimes uneven. Being set in nature means wearing sturdy shoes and allowing time for the climb up to the site.
A natural spring near the hermitage supplies water to the shrine but dries up during the hottest months. This dependence on nature shaped monastic life here for centuries.
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