Il santuario rupestre di S. Michele al Tancia. La ricerca archeologica,

The archaeological research carried out within the Italian “Future in Research 2010” has catalogued different sites; according to global approach, besides the surveys needed for the historical and topographical classification, has provided also the 3D survey of the sacred places, useful not just only for the analysis and the research, but for the exploitation of them: like the case of the St. Michael’s rock sanctuary on Mount Tancia in the Lazio region. The rock sanctuary of St. Michael of Tancia, dedicated to the Archangel from at least 774 AD, is one of the most significant examples of the micaelic shrine, because has all the main features of the angel’s cult, in regards to the natural context (sacred mountain, presence of water, paths) but also to devotional context (pilgrimages, presence of relics, preexisting cults, deep continuity of religious and cultural traditions). It was a holy place from an older age, as evidenced by the presence of a little anthropomorphic statue in the cave, identifiable with a pagan divinity of the Roman or pre-Roman age. This work will emphasize, through an interdisciplinary approach, the fundamental dialect of the sanctuary, based on antinomies dark/light, entrance/bottom, up hill/down hill, also highlighted by the replacement with the original entrance to the next one, which are also graphically the opposition between true and false religion, between Christian worship and demonic devotion.