The Invisible Thread That Connects the Seven Shrines – Metropolita

These shrines are very far apart but are located in a straight line. Legend has it that the sacred streak of Saint Michael is a blow to Satan, who sent her back to Hell.

The veneration of Saint Michael the Archangel rose in the Middle Ages, especially among monks who considered themselves soldiers of Christ. It naturally followed that “spiritual soldiers” fighting to save lives often called monasteries and shrines an archangel.

Whatever the case, it is amazing how perfectly these shrines are lined up: in addition to the three most important places – Mont Saint-Michel in France, the Abbey of San Michele della Chiusa (also known as Sacra di San Michele) and the Sanctuary of Monte Gargano in Italy – at an equal distance from each other. The saint warns believers to keep God’s laws at all times and to walk uninterruptedly.

Otherwise, the sacred line exactly coincides with the line of the sun that rises at the summer solstice.

The line begins off the southwest coast of Ireland, an uninhabited island where Archangel Michael appeared to Saint Patrick to help him free his homeland from the power of demons. Here is the first monastery, Skellig Michael (“Rock of the Archangel Michael”), one of the most inaccessible medieval monasteries in Ireland.

2. St. Michael’s Mountain

The line then heads south and stops in England, at Mount St Michael, a small island in Cornwall that can only be approached at low tide, as is the world-famous French island. Here, Saint Michael, the patron saint of fishermen, appeared and spoke to a group of fishermen.

3 – Mont Saint Michael

Then the line continues in France, on another famous island, Mount Saint Michael, where the Archangel Michael also appeared. The beauty of its sanctuary and the huge bay that surrounds the island from the Normandy coast make it one of the most visited tourist destinations in all of France. It has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. This place was already influenced by strong mysticism in the time of Gaul, until the Archangel of Saint Hubert, Bishop of Avranches, appeared in 709, asking him to build a temple on the rock. Work began, but the monastery was built only in 900, during the time of Benedictine monks.

4. The abbreviation for the tongue of Michela Della Chiusa

1,000 kilometers, at the entrance to the Susai Valley, in Piedmont, Italy, rises the fourth shrine: the Monastery of St. Michael Chiusa (also known as the Sacra di San Michele). A straight line connects this sacred place with other monasteries dedicated to Saint Michael.

Construction of the monastery began around the year 1000, but new structures have been added over the centuries. Benedictine monks enlarged it, adding an outbuilding to house pilgrims from France on the Via Franchigina.

5. Santorio de San Michele Arangelo

Thousands of kilometers later, the line passes through Apulia and we reach the Gargano mountains, where the inaccessible cave has become a sanctuary: the sanctuary of the Archangel Michael.

Its construction dates back to 490, when Saint Michael first appeared to Saint Lorenzo Maiorano, the local bishop.

6. PANORMITIS MONOSTOR, Symi Island