Holy Landsacape and sacred Places on the Gargano (Apulia). St. Nicholas Hermitage

The sacred places are signs and markers in the perception of the physical, symbolic and cultural space: therefore we have to study local contexts through the analysis of all the available sources, including the spatial distribution of the holy places and the spatial relationships existing between the various evidences of archaeological contexts, according to the perspective of global history of the "Landscape Archaeology". The research on sacred places proves to be a privileged means of investigating the social and cultural history of a landscape, because these places mark, not only the physical space, but also the symbolic and cultural perception of it. Some examples of continued use of the same spaces, that continue to be considered as sacred in different periods and cultures, may be understood in this way . This is also the case of the Gargano promontory (Apulia): a “holy place” by Ancient times, for its numerous signs and markers of sacralisation, from the Late Antiquity to be linked with pilgrimages, hermitages, sanctuaries: the most old and famous is the sanctuary of St. Michael of Monte St. Angelo founded by the Longobards. Particularly, we will first deal with some historical and archaeological data in order to investigate some patterns of the sacralisation, specifically related to the so-called “Hermitage of St. Nicola”, an early medieval church with an apse and a single aisle, to be linked to the important Benedictine Abbey of St. John de Lama, mentioned by the sources in the 11th century, possibly a xenodochum for the pilgrims who passed by here heading towards the important sanctuary of St. Michael of Monte St. Angelo.