Chiesa Abbaziale di Santa Maria Maggiore

Monte Sant'Angelo's Abbey Church of Santa Maria Maggiore is traditionally associated with Abbot Leone and dates to the eleventh century. Rebuilt in 1198 under the regency of Constance of Hauteville, it preserves a sculpted portal, medieval frescoes and a celebrated image of Saint Francis.

Why it matters

The church's Benedictine history is traditionally linked to Leone, abbot of the Cassinese monks. Its rebuilding under Constance of Hauteville gave the building a Romanesque-Swabian character associated with the Capitanata.

What to notice

The portal lunette depicts the Madonna and Child between a priest identified as Benedetto II and a female figure sometimes identified as Empress Constance. Inside, a painted image of Saint Francis is described by the municipality as among the oldest in the region; local tradition links it to the saint's visit to the grotto in 1216. The church's fresco cycle and its connection to the baptistery of San Giovanni in Tumba form part of the wider monumental group with the remains of San Pietro.

Context and history

Santa Maria Maggiore's eleventh-century foundation belongs to the history of Cassinese monasticism in the Capitanata. Constance's 1198 rebuilding shaped its Romanesque-Swabian form. Its monastic history forms one strand of the medieval religious complex around San Pietro and the baptistery. The building records the region's passage from Benedictine reform to the political world of the Swabian period.