The basilica of Sant'Angelo in Formis is in serious distress, and the Touring Club launches an appeal to save it

The basilica of Sant’Angelo in Formis, in Capua, is one of Italy’s major early medieval monuments. It can be found in all art history books: begun in the sixth century, in the Lombard era, it was rebuilt in the twelfth and includes a cycle of frescoes made shortly after the year 1000 that constitute one of the most precious artistic testimonies, on a European level, of that period. After several collapses and problems also due to the squatting that has raged in the area, the basilica is now in a state of serious distress. That is why the Italian Touring Club is launching an appeal to save it. We reproduce below the text in full.

The Italian Touring Club calls the attention of institutions and citizens to the situation of the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Angelo in Formis in Capua, Campania, which has been abandoned in a state of environmental disrepair and is inaccessible to the faithful and families living in the area.

The basilica, begun in Lombard times and rebuilt in the 12th century, is an admirable work commissioned byAbbot Desiderius, the only one still standing after the destruction of the contemporary Basilica of Montecassino built by the same abbot.Oriental in its architecture, it houses a unique series of frescoes, created by local masters, which described even to those who could not read the basic moments of the Old and New Testaments. Also beautiful are the columns and capitals, all different and the result of reuse of materials from the Roman temple that stood in the area.

THE SITUATION.

After a long period of closure for restoration work on the supporting structures of the church and the precious frescoes, the monument was reopened, but shortly afterwards there were ruinous collapses of some sections of the walls surrounding the entire archaeological area, including the ancient temple of Diana Tifatina.

For a long time, in fact , makeshift and squatter houses and cottages were built close to the ancient walls and then abandoned. Due to abandonment, the growth of spontaneous vegetation and the penetration of rainwater, subsidence and collapse have occurred. The valuable Arch of Diana was also closed to the public and simple pedestrian passage in the area was prohibited .

In addition, a large hole has been found in the lower part of the ancient wall where it surrounds the apsidal area of the Basilica, so water easily penetrates the foundations, which are then the same as those of the Temple of Diana. The facts add to the danger determined by the constructions on the hilly part behind the Basilica, occupied by squatter buildings and in heavy disrepair.

TOURING’S APPEAL

For all these reasons, the Italian Touring Club launches an appeal for all the authorities in charge, national and local, and especially the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, to intervene promptly and effectively to restore a place that is an asset of immense historical, artistic, monumental and religious value.

The goal is not only to reopen the area to the public, but also to secure the archaeological remains and restore the complex to its ancient splendor with a complete resurfacing of the entire hillside area.

Pictured: the interior of the Basilica of Sant’Angelo in Formis.

The basilica of Sant'Angelo in Formis is in serious distress, and the Touring Club launches an appeal to save it

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