A short walk from the historic center of Vastogirardi, at the foot of Mount Capraro, hides an important archaeological site: the Italic temple of contrada Sant’Angelo. Discovered about fifty years ago, the temple is located near one of the main springs in the area and was identified under the ruins of the medieval church of San Michele Arcangelo, dating from around the year 1000.
The first excavation campaigns, promoted by Prof. Adriano La Regina and entrusted to the University of Paris with the young archaeologist Jean Paul Morel, revealed a very ancient podium, dating back to the Samnites, devoid of the original blocks reused to build the watchtower of Vastogirardi Castle. Columns, lintels and architectural fragments found were dated to the second half of the second century BC.
Excavations have shown that the area was actively frequented until the early imperial period, before the ravages of Sulla and the Gothic wars. The later arrival of the Lombards led to a new settlement and the construction of the castle and church, consecrating the cult of St. Michael, so dear to this people.
Interesting is the perfect correspondence of the temple’s dimensions with other famous Samnite buildings, such as “Temple A” in Pietrabbondante, following the “golden number” 1.6. The unearthed altar, decorated with sacred symbols such as the wheel and bull’s head, is now kept in the Pietrabbondante museum.
According to some theories, the temple may have been dedicated to the Oscan goddess Mephiti, deity of the waters, rather than to Hercules or Diana, in a continuum of traditions that would become Christianized over the centuries, as evidenced by the local cults of St. Felicia and the Madonna.
The plain of Sant’Angelo is thus confirmed as a crossroads of history, faith and legend.