SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO

The new Sanctuary, also known as “Church of Saint Pio”, was opened on 1 July 2004, after nearly ten years of work. Designed by Renzo Piano, with its huge clamshell structure occupies approximately 6000 square meters and is the second church of Italy for extension, after the Milan Cathedral. It’s financed almost entirely by the offers of pilgrims and can accommodate more than 6500 faithful. The remains of the Saint are located in the crypt of the Church.

 

The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, originally dedicated to Santa Maria degli Angeli, is the old Sanctuary, inaugurated in 1959 for the will and stubbornness of Padre Pio. Until the completion of the new sanctuary, this church has collected thousands of faithful and pilgrims arrived every year in Apulian town for visiting the places of the Saint. The crypt of the Church hosted, until a few years ago, also the grave of Padre Pio, which today has been moved in the crypt of the new complex adjacent.

 

The Capuchin Convent, built in 1540, is the place where Padre Pio lived from September 4, 1916 until September 23, 1968, date of his death. It was here that Padre Pio received the stigmata in 1918, and always here occurred all those supernatural events that brought to the beatification and subsequent canonization of the friar.

 

The historic centre has a typical architecture of the Gargano with materials coming from the land and the simplicity of the buildings made of stone. Between narrow streets and stairways, called “mugnali”, you will find many churches which testify to the deep religious tradition of the town even before the arrival of the friar. Among these there is also the church from which derives the name of the town: dedicated to San Giovanni Battista, is called “la Rotonda” for its circular plan. Before the consecration, was a pagan temple dedicated to the god Janus, and is today the oldest building of the country. Worth a visit are also the Church of Sant’Orsola, the Church of Sant’Onofrio Anacoreta, the Church of San Nicola, the Church of Santa Caterina, the oldest in the town and the Mother Church of San Leonardo.

 

Art and architecture are not lacking in San Giovanni Rotondo. Among the more important examples there are Palace Canaviglia, built starting from 1615, and Palace Verna, built starting from XVII century and home of one of bourgeois families of San Giovanni Rotondo.

 

Monte Calvo, which owes its name to its nude and stony slopes, with its 1056 meters of altitude, is the highest mountain of all the Gargano. From its summit, in fact, in conditions of favorable light, you can admire the splendid views overlooking the valleys below, on the Gulf of Manfredonia, on the Varano Lake, on the Apennine massif of the Maiella, on the Tremiti Islands and on the Monte Vulture. Together with the Piana of Montenero, Monte Calvo is characterized for the high concentration of dolines of karst origin.