Gargano in September 11 Monte Sant'Angelo and San Giovanni Rotondo

It's Monday morning and we are feeling energetic so set off for Monte Sant'Angelo. Monte Sant'Angelo together with San Giovanni Rotondo which is just half an hour further are important sanctuaries and places of pilgrimage for the Catholic church.

In Monte Sant'Angelo we get a bit stuck because the panoramic road around the old town to the sanctuary is closed for work in progress so we get diverted into the narrow roads of the historical centre which are then blocked because a lorry is across the road putting up decorations for the Saint's day celebrations the next weekend! Things could get awkward but help arrives in the form of two elderly gentleman who first try to explain the way out and then get in our car to show us and get a lift. How nice! It's then reasonably easy to find some free parking down a side road and we head off to explore.

The Sanctuary of San Michele Archangelo was recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2011. There's a fine bell tower and doorway as you go in and it's worth stopping a while outside to admire both,

as well as the statue of San Michele, 

before going down the many steps (86 in all) into the Sacred Cave where San Michele appeared. The whole area is quite small and also used for Mass in one language or another almost continuously. On this Monday in late September it was already quite busy, I think it could be a little claustrophobic with even more people. Coming out of the cave there are some information videos in various languages about the history of the sanctuary itself and its context as well as that of pilgrimages in general.

Back in the open air we stroll up and down the narrow streets of the attractive clean whitewashed medieval part of the town called  Rione Junno, 

very pleasant.

We also have a look at the Complesso Monumentale di San Pietro which includes the remains of Saint Peter's church which collapsed at the end of the nineteenth century, the enigmatic baptistery of San Giovanni in Tumba (Tomb of Rotari) and the thirteenth century church of Santa Maria Maggiore which has some interesting frescoes. 

For mysterious reasons, or because I'm fed up of eating different forms of, well, bread, we decide to have lunch in a restaurant. Some time is spent eliminating one third of restaurants due to bad reviews on TripAdvisor, one third because they're closed and the other third because they don't have a fixed menu, although there are some overlaps. In the end we decide on La Caravella which seems unpretentious and reasonable as regards prices and reviews. The set menu at 16€ includes a first, we choose orecchiette, the typical local pasta, with a sauce which sounds much more exciting in the description than on the plate, a mixed grill of lamb and sausage which probably weighs a total of 100 grams but has a lot of iceberg lettuce around it to fill the plate, bread, a drop of wine and water and a typical (small) sweet for dessert. The Caravella is family run and watching the interaction between the friendly waiter (the grandson), the owner (grandfather) and the rest of the family is probably more interesting than the food. 

After our light lunch we wander around the outside of the castle and are then soon back in the car, although slightly in need of coffee, and on the way to San Giovanni Rotondo.

This town is famous for Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pio of Pietralcina who died in 1968 and was a friar of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, priest, stigmatist and mystic, and was canonised in 2002.  He spent most of his life in San Giovanni Rotondo and the most recent and enormous church which can cope with up to 7000 people was designed by the architect Renzo Piano and inaugurated in 2004 and is called the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietralcina.

By the time we arrive I am even more in need of coffee, it's also quite hot walking up to the church from where we find free parking in a residential area about fifteen minutes below. Let's say I'm not in a particularly favourable mindset. Instead I must admit the upper church, inside, is striking with its round shapes and enormous curved arches in Apricena Stone. Definitely the most beautiful modern church I have ever seen, which may not be saying much, but yes, it does achieve beauty. Nevertheless, the thought of coffee is still nagging away until we go down the corridor to the lower chapel. This corridor has some really beautiful mosaics depicting the life of Saint Francis and of Padre Pio. Coffee is forgotten, yes they are modern but they are warm and pristine and beautiful. In the lower chapel there is an overuse of gold colouring, especially on the roof. What was a special touch on the mosaics in the corridor is a little excessive in the crypt where Padre Pio's body lies.

Back outside we also visit Santa Maria delle Grazie Convent and church where there is more information about Padre Pio, but it is nowhere near as atmospheric.

Finally it's time for an ice-cream for Andrea and coffee for me before we drive back to Mattinata, stopping for some shopping on the way. We stock up on dairy products and so supper is, once again, bread, almost the last of the tomatoes, burrata, scamorza and ricotta on the terrace as dusk falls over the splendid view of Mattinata.