In recent days we have had the pleasure and honor of being able to welcome friends from Lauria to seal the twinning between the Little Way to Santiago – Lauria and the Hermitage of San Michele alle Grottelle.

The Little Way to Santiago is a route through the places of worship and historical places of Lauria: about 10 km which from year to year attracts more and more visitors from neighboring towns and regions.

Among the most interesting frescoes in the Hermitage of San Michele alle Grottelle is the one dedicated to San Giacomo the Greater.

The aedicule of Saint James of Compostela (14th century) is located inside the second cave in a natural apse of the church. The aedicule consists of an altar surmounted by an arch. On the two sides there are depicted the Holy Martyrs Lorenzo and Stefano, while in the centre, in a trefoil frame, there is Saint James with scenes depicting some of his miracles.

On the right, the three scenes depict the miracle of the hanged man and concern the story of a young pilgrim unjustly accused of theft and sentenced to death; the Apostle, invoked by his parents (depicted with the typical clothes of pilgrims in the second scene), saved him when he was already on the gallows by supporting his legs (first scene), so that the parents went to the city praetor reporting the miracle to him, to have him freed ; he did not believe what was said and said that his son was alive like the rooster and hen served on his table, but after saying these words the two birds jumped out of the plate among the astonished people present (third scene).

The panels on the right represent Unity and faith in the cult of linked to each other: a dead pilgrim is resurrected thanks to the intercession of St. James who, invoked by his faithful traveling companion, leads them on horseback to Santiago (first scene); after returning to their homeland, the faithful friend falls ill with leprosy and to cure him his companion does not hesitate to wash him in the blood of his children, as was suggested to him by a voice (third scene); the little ones are, however, saved by the Apostle, who offers them a golden apple as protection before the sacrifice (second scene).

The frescoes of the two caves are an important document that testifies to the diffusion of the Michaelic and Jacobean cults in medieval Italy along the main pilgrimage routes.

Twinning seals the union and faith in the cult of San Giacomo.

Find out more about the Sentiero di San Michele alle Grottelle.