'great iron door' of the Sacra di San Michele

 





 the Sacra di San Michele is a religious complex on Mount Pirchiriano, situated on the south side of the Val di Susa, northern Italy. the abbey, which for much of its history came under Benedictine rule, is now entrusted to the Rosminians.  according to some historians, in Roman times a military stronghold existed on the current location of the abbey, commanding the main road leading to Gaul from Italy. later, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Lombards built a fortress here against the Frankish invasions

 

little is known of the early years of the abbey, the oldest extant account is that of a monk, William, who lived here in the late 11th century and wrote a Chronicon Coenobii Sancti Michaelis de Clusa in which he sets the foundation of the abbey in 966.

what is certain is that what is now the crypt was built in the late 10th century, as attested by the Byzantine influence in the niches, columns and arches. according to tradition, this building was constructed by the hermit Saint Giovanni Vincenzo at the behest of the archangel Michael; and the building materials which the hermit had collected were transported miraculously to the top of the mountain (the cult of St. Michael, typically bases it churches on pinnacles or hard to reach places, for example, Mont Saint-Michel in France.)

in the following years a small edifice was added, which could house a small community of monks and some pilgrims. later the abbey developed under the Benedictine rule, with the construction of a separate building with guest-rooms for pilgrims following the popular Via Francigena and of a church-monastery (1015–1035), probably on the remains of the ancient Roman castrum. abbot Ermengardo (1099–1131) had a new large, 26 m-high basement built from the foot of the hill to its peak, on which a new church (the one still existing today) was added, including the surrounding structures.

the church, whose construction lasted for many years, is characterized by the unusual position of the façade, which is at a lower level than the floor of the church's interior. the imposing 41m-high façade gives access to the scalone del morti flanked by arches, niches and tombs in which, until recent times, skeletons of dead monks where visible (hence the name). at the top of the steps is the marble porta dello zodiaco, a masterwork of 12th century sculpture. the church itself is accessed by a Romanesque portal in grey and green stone, built in the early 11th century. the church has a nave and two aisles, and features elements from both the Gothic and Romanesque styles of architecture.