santuario, diocesano, San Michele Arcangelo sul Monte Faito

High on Monte Faito, the Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo commands a 1,443-metre summit of the Monti Lattari, a place once called Monte Aureo, or Monte Sant’Angelo a tre Pizzi. Its story begins in the sixth century, a time when the Lombard invasions and Byzantine exactions drove people from the plains below. The bishop Catello led the Stabians up onto this high plateau, where water was plentiful and pastures possible; they were joined by others from the Sorrentine peninsula and the Agro Nocerino, guided by Bishop Pimenio. It was here that Catello and a monk named Antonino built a sanctuary on the mountain’s highest point, dedicated to Saint Michael. The cult of the Archangel in this archdiocese is ancient indeed, and this remote church, perched above the Bay of Naples, stands as a stark, enduring witness to a troubled century of flight, faith, and refuge.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.