Spazi sacri e culto micaelico: il caso della Campania

Within Southern Italy, Campania is the region where the incidence of Saint Michael’s cult has been more remarkable from the early Middle Ages. This is due to several reasons: the strong influence exerted by the Eastern cults, the proximity of the sanctuary of Gargano (Apulia), and the coexistence, in the territory of Campania itself, of Longobards and Byzantines. The sanctuary of Monte Faito, which was connected, for religious and political reasons, both with Catellus (bishop of Stabiae in the 7th century) and with Antoninus (patron of Sorrento, 9th century), was considered the national sanctuary of the Byzantines: indeed, it was also acknowledged as a competitive sacred place in comparison with the sanctuary of Gargano, traditionally associated with the Longobards from Benevento.