Ischia.it english

San Michele in the charm of the village of S. Angelo

Sant'Angelo, a small seaside village on the south of the island, on September 29 and 30, renews the homage to the Patron saint every year.
Don Vincenzo Fiorentino, son of the close village of Panza, has been parish priest of Sant’Angelo for over 50 years, leading one of the smallest parishes of the island, active as such since 1905 after years of “dependence” from the S. Parish Maria del Carmine in Serrara.
Tourists and villagers who do not hesitate to book their stay in the hotels in the area in advance expect these wonderful days annually.

Once there, near the top of Sant’Angelo Island (the so-called “Torre”) there was a small Benedictine monastery with a watchtower. The monks had to leave the place around 1432, leaving the cult now strongly rooted for the Archangel Michele who, for both the bombing of the British in 1808 and the expansion of the village to the marina, was transferred to the village where it existed already the chapel of “Santa Maria a Terra” (in the current location “Madonnella”). Around 1850 the new and existing parish church was built and the adjoining cemetery on a plot owned by the Iacono family, whose priest son Giuseppe was the first pastor of S.Angelo until 1912. He sought and received the Parish Prize in 1905 for the community of S.Michele (including the rectory of the Narrative of Mary Ss in Succhivo).
Following, for another 50 years (1912 - 1962), Don Luigi Trofa led the young community of Sant’Angelo before the arrival of the ever-dynamic and beloved Don Vincenzo!
Two very intense days, those of September 29 and 30, with a program that varies very little from year to year but which gives new emotions to those who live and do their own ones.
The procession of the first evening, day of the patron saint, with San Michele carried on the shoulders by the faithful along the narrow and impenetrable streets of the upper part and for the simple and picturesque ones of the marina. At dusk, as by magic, all the cliffs illuminate of so many glittering and suggestive flames! This is thanks to the hard work of a group of young people in the place who, in order to prepare the scene, place on the rocks large jars with rags soaked with naphtha, which are then lit up in these two days with torches at the passage of San Michele.
On September 30, in the morning, the statue of San Michele is transferred to the square of the village where it remains until evening, to be brought back to the procession. This time by sea, both towards Punta Chiarito in the nearby Panza’s southern hamlet and towards the Maronti beach - Barano (welcomed year by year from a script written on the sand by so many small torches by the tour operators of the place).
Many boats, large and small, arrives from all over the island and follow the “Pelican”, the fishing boat that has the honor of carrying the saint, escorted by all law enforcement officers.
An endless show from Punta Chiarito to the Maronti Beach, glittering multicolored waterfalls that blend with the flames of illuminated cliffs create a wonderful atmosphere.
After the celebrated Mass in the square and the concert, a thunderous finale colors S.Angelo’s sky to repeat the date for everyone next year, waiting for some other beautiful Sant’Angelo days!