Abbazia di San Michele
Procida
KnownSacred art
The story
Behind the walls of Terra Murata, the abbey dedicated to its patron Michael guards paintings, an antique presepe (nativity scene) and catacombe carved into the tufo, its vault turned towards the sea.
Access
borgo (old village) FREE, abbey € Millennium tours
The story
The Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo crowns Terra Murata, the highest fortified village of Procida, at ninety-one metres above the sea. Its origins date to 1026; it became a Benedictine monastery around 1200, until the pirate raids drove the monks to abandon it, in the mid-fifteenth century. San Michele is the patron and protector of the island.
What to see
The church, on the upper level, with its ceiling and works of art, and the abbey complex below, with the ancient library and a permanent nativity scene of eighteenth-century Neapolitan figures in wood and terracotta. From its walls, a view that takes in Corricella, the gulf and Ischia.
How to get there
- Hydrofoil
- Ferry
Tips
The abbey is a museum complex on two levels: the visits (church, library, underground spaces) are often made with a guided tour (Associazione Millennium). Check days, hours and arrangements on the official site. You climb up on foot to Terra Murata from Marina Corricella.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Abbey of San Michele in Procida?
The ancient Benedictine abbey of Terra Murata, dedicated to the patron of the island: origins of the eleventh century, today a museum complex with a church, a library and an eighteenth-century nativity scene.
What can you see at the Abbey of San Michele?
The church with its works, the ancient library, the abbey spaces and a permanent nativity scene of eighteenth-century Neapolitan figures.
How do you visit it?
On two levels, often with a guided tour (Associazione Millennium): it is best to check hours and arrangements on the official site. You climb up to Terra Murata from Corricella.
More gems in Procida
VillagesMarina Corricella
Procida
The oldest fishermen's borgo (old village) on Procida, an amphitheatre of pastel houses tumbling down to the harbour, where the boats sleep beneath the hanging laundry.
Sacred artTerra Murata
Procida
The ancient core of Procida climbs the yellow tufo (volcanic tuff) headland, between defensive walls and narrow alleys, suspended between the little harbour of Corricella and the horizon of the bay.
- ◆ Views & panoramas
Belvedere Elsa Morante e dei Cannoni
Procida
From the terrace named after Elsa Morante, among old cannons trained on the bay, the view opens onto the Corricella and its pastel houses heaped upon the water.
- Free beaches
Spiaggia del Pozzo Vecchio ("del Postino")
Procida
The dark-sand beach where Massimo Troisi filmed Il Postino, tucked below the cemetery and the tufo walls, with shallow water and the stillness of a film set never struck.
- Free beaches
Spiagge di Chiaia
Procida
A long stairway leads down to it: a broad stretch of sand and shingle sheltered by high tufo walls, with the fishing boats of the Corricella colouring the background.
- Free beaches
Chiaiolella
Procida
The crescent-shaped little harbour on Procida's gentler side, with moored boats, tables at the water's edge and the bridge that leads from here towards the island of Vivara.
More gems: Sacred art
Sacred artCappella Sansevero (Cristo Velato)
Napoli (NA)
Beneath a veil of marble that still seems to breathe, Sanmartino's Cristo Velato rests in the chapel's half-light, and the whiteness of the stone deceives every eye.
Sacred artDuomo di Napoli
Napoli
Three times a year the city holds its breath as the blood of San Gennaro waits to liquefy, among Gothic naves and the gold of the chapel devoted to him.
Sacred artCappella del Tesoro di San Gennaro
Napoli
Behind a bronze gate lie silverware, gems and the jewel-studded mitre of the saint: a treasure heaped up over centuries by the devotion of Naples.
Sacred artChiesa del Gesù Nuovo
Napoli
The facade of pyramid-cut piperno stone hides symbols carved into the blocks, while inside the Baroque bursts out in marble and in the memory of the physician Giuseppe Moscati.
Sacred artChiostro di Santa Chiara
Napoli
A garden of pillars clad in yellow and blue majolica, where lemon pergolas and eighteenth-century scenes painted on the tiles keep the noise of the city at bay.
Sacred artSanta Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco
Via Tribunali 39
Bronze skulls stand guard at the entrance, and down in the hypogeum the cult of the anime pezzentelle (adopted souls of the dead) still leaves flowers and prayers beside abandoned crania.