This content was automatically translated. View the original text.
The Rock Church of Archangel St Michael in Caprile: a world-unique fresco in the rock
Nestled in the cliffs of Mount Asprano is the Rock Church of San Michele Arcangelo. It can be reached from Caprile di Roccasecca via a path that starts out from the medieval village. The first definitive record dates to 991 AD, when the Aquino judge Grimoaldo donated it to the Abbey of Montecassino. It was likely already a Benedictine hermitage at that time, consisting of two rooms cut out of the rock: a living area and a small frescoed apse. Until the mid-20th century, the hermitage also served as a burial site for the victims of infectious diseases.
The frescoes, present and removed
The apsidal niche preserves a 12th-century Ascension of Christ, featuring the apostles and the Virgin Mary, rooted in the Byzantine-Cassinese tradition. To the left of the entrance is a partially lost image of St Michael with a spear. The cave’s most extraordinary fresco is no longer here: a 10th-century Crucifixion, moved to preserve it to the nearby Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Caprile. The imagery is rare: Christ is depicted in a long tunic, and Longinus—the soldier who typically wields a spear—is shown wearing ciocie (traditional Ciociaria footwear) while holding a rope. This specific iconography exists nowhere else in the world.
