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The enchantment of the hamlet of S. Angelo

“Every morning when I look at Sant’Angelo I always get the same joyful emotion: this place really exists I did not dream it. Tomorrow will be ten days I’m here and I have the feeling they will have a decisive importance for my whole future life”. These are the words of Eduard Bargher, who along with Werner Gilles, two of the “degenerate artists” banned from Nazism, in his long travelling to the south of Europe in search of a place to live and that light of the Mediterranean Sea that only In Ischia he said he had found, wrote about Sant’Angelo.
A small hamlet that over the course of time enchanted and continues to enchant those who are fortunate to visit it, even for a very short time. In this beautiful village, hamlet of the Municipality of Serrara Fontana, on all stands out an islet also called “Torre di S.Angelo”.

It is a volcanic rock, 105 meters high, formed by fountains all around; right at the top of the island was once a small Benedictine monastery dedicated to Archangel S. Michele, which gave its name to the village.
The monks, working inside the hamlet, also provided good nutrition to the small community. In front of the islet, there was once a remote beach, littered with anglers’ houses, a village we could say prehistoric, with cabled shelves and grid nets, where men and women were indiscriminately engaged in fishing. In the distant days, when the sea was still pounding against the “Chiano Rosa” (now via Chiaia di Rose), the anglers had dug some caves where they would take refuge during the storms. During the Aragonese period on the top of that island was built a sighting tower to alert the inhabitants of the farmhouses, the approach of pirate ships and to ensure their safety. One of the last military actions carried out by the Tower of Sant’Angelo took place during the decade of the French occupation of the reign of Naples (1806-1815). The country later developed towards the opposite marina. Around 1850, the present parish church was built above the anglers’ village, where an ancient little church called “Santa Maria a Terra” was erected.

The new and existing church was named Mary Assumed in heaven, depicted in a canvas that is admired in the apse. At the same time, from the derelict and abandoned little church, on the islet, the wooden statue of St. Michael the Archangel was transported to the new temple, where his cult continued to flourish. On May 1, 1905 the new church was elevated to a parish under the nome of St. Michael the Archangel. Now from that uninhabited peak, unnerved by the turmoil of the world, there are views of magnificent views and S.Angelo is today a modern center of international renown, called “the most beautiful village in Italy” by National Geographic just a few days ago.
The association “Amici di S.Angelo”, founded in 1980 with the aim of promoting cultural events and initiatives to enhance the image of the exclusive village of Sant’Angelo, is very active in the life of the country.
The Association represents the business activities in the area and has hundreds of events on the asset, the production of a book and the management of an internet portal with excellent positioning on search engines that counts from its activation of half a million visits: www.santangelodischia.
A few days ago was activated a free Wi-Fi network in the center of this wonderful hamlet, as well as a semi-automatic defibrillator that will be installed shortly, making S. Angelo a “protected area”. There are many events that this Associazione rich in inventiveness and enthusiasm will continue this year also thanks to the partner structures that operate on S.Angelo territory. From Freetimes to Belly Shakers, from The Groove Street mania to Night Troublè, so many will be the notes that echo in the lovely evenings to spend in this land warmed by the Sun and the Sky. Events that will always have their culmination in the extraordinary feast of St. Michael the Archangel: on September 29, all the inhabitants of Sant’Angelo honor their patron, whom there anglers have entrusted over the centuries to escape the many pitfalls of the sea.
Recurring masses, greetings by the music band and the procession from the small Madonnella church are all moments that residents, as well as many tourists staying in the nearby hotels, live very intensely. The procession by sea on September 30 is the highlight of the holiday, the most beautiful time to live together with the crowd of faithful clinging to the taxi boats of the local co-operative or dozens of large and small boats following the crossing of St. Michael from Sant Angelo until Punta Chiarito first and at “Cava Petrelle”, then. Along the way, hotels, restaurants, bars salute San Michele with a triumph of pyrotechnic fires made even more spectacular by the natural background given by the sunset of this (south) side of the island. After the Holy Mass celebrated in the square and the band concert, a thunderous ending of lights, sounds and colors, floods the sky of St. Angelo to make a date for everyone next year, waiting for some other beautiful days in Sant’Angelo!