The Centro Operativo per l’Archeologia della Daunia undertook the cleaning-restoration of the central portal of the Abbey of Santa Maria di Stignano and the subsequent documentation of the graffiti left on it by pilgrims on their way to the cave sacred to Saint Michael the Archangel at Monte Sant’Angelo. In fact it seems that Stignano, as the most widely accepted etymology (Ostium Jani) appears to suggest, was and continues to be the true “gateway” to the Gargano for those travelling from the north. Consequently the Abbey of Santa Maria di Stignano was the first true sentinel “watching over” the Garganic tract, the most important and crucial part of the so-called Via Sacra Langobardorum. Following the apparition of the Archangel Michael (end of the 5th century A.D.) and his “election” as protector of the people, this route became one of the busiest pilgrim ways of the medieval period. It was here that the pilgrims got their first breath of the air of the holy mountain, made the first contacts with the saint and gathered their strength for the final “leap” towards the holy grotto, but not without having left something of themselves on the walls of this church dedicated to the Virgin: nearly always a date, a name, a sorrowful plea, often a symbol. This was the quickest and most effective way of communicating concepts that were difficult to synthesize and spread in a universal language.

Graffiti depicting rhombi, triangles, squares, circles with crosses and garlands, monograms of Jesus’ name, pentacles and animals often mentioned in the Bible, have stood the test of time to bear witness to the unshakable faith of those who on the path of the Archangel found eternal life but often met their deaths.