Eremi di Pulsano

The hermitages of Pulsano are scattered through the steep valley below Monte Sant'Angelo. Cells, chapels and other retreats are cut into cliffs or set on their edges, linked by rock-cut stairways and a system of channels that carried water to cisterns and terraces.

Why it matters

The Abbey of Pulsano was the mother house of an eremitic congregation. Its dispersed cells formed a landscape of prayer in which some retreats could be reached only by stairs or a pulley system. Frescoes in several hermitages and the waterworks carved into the rock show how the community combined solitude with a carefully organised settlement.

What to notice

San Gregorio is a large L-shaped natural cavity, restored in 1995. San Nicola, below the abbey church, preserves frescoes of an Annunciation and a Crucifixion with praying monks. The Studion complex includes images of angels and a kneeling hermit fed by a bird. Other named sites include the Carcere, Coppa la Pinta, Santa Caterina in the Valle dei Romiti and San Giovanni Abate. La Rondinella, or the swallow's perch, is associated by tradition with Saint Francis of Assisi.

Context and history

The site is associated with an early oratory from the late sixth century. In 1129 Giovanni Salcone da Matera, remembered as San Giovanni da Matera, rebuilt the abbey and founded the Pulsanese Hermits under the Benedictine rule. Pope Alexander III consecrated the abbey church in 1177, and the order spread to more than forty monasteries. The congregation was suppressed in 1806. A new bi-ritual monastic community was installed on 20 December 1997, renewing the abbey's religious life.