Monte Sant'Angelo, home of the Gargano National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is famous throughout the world for the famous Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo, a destination for pilgrims of the Christian religion, since the sixth century.
Called the sacred city of the Gargano, the town is in fact concentrated around the cave of San Michele Arcangelo and the inhabited center is the highest in the Gargano, as it is placed in a splendid panoramic position on a spur south of the promontory, with a breathtaking view of the gulf of Manfredonia.
Subject of visits of numerous saints such as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Francis of Assisi, Monte Sant'Angelo in July 1917 hosted Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, who went on pilgrimage to the holy cave to venerate San Michele.
The city boasts also a Norman-Swabian-Aragonese castle, a few steps from the cave, which was the home of the Emperor of Swabia, Bianca Lancia, held in this castle, in fact today it is said that her ghost still roams the halls of this building.
In the Gargano center area there is part of the Umbra Forest, a protected natural area of the Gargano National Park, whose name derives from the shadowiness of the forest, considered very dark. Between Monte Sant'Angelo and San Giovanni Rotondo there is the Valle Carbonara, the largest and longest valley in the Gargano, dedicated to crops. While a few kilometers away, in the municipality of Manfredonia, it is also possible to find the Quarto wood, rich in beech and oak.
At Monte Sant'Angelo you can visit the Museum of arts and popular traditions, known as the Tancredi Museum, located at the former convent of the church of San Francesco, the Lapidary Museum, located inside the Basilica of San Michele and the Devotional Museum also located within the sanctuary.
Monte Sant'Angelo is known for its typical bread and its traditional dishes such as pancotto with broad beans and various vegetables, the semolina which is a variation of polenta made with semolina, orecchiette with turnip greens with the addition of fried anchovies and garlic and laine, fresh tagliatelle with chickpeas and cod sauce.
