In the ravines around Mottola, four medieval churches carved into the rock — San Nicola, Sant’Angelo, Santa Margherita and San Gregorio — preserve one of southern Italy’s richest cycles of sacred frescoes.
At a glance
Between the 11th and the 14th century, small monastic communities dug their churches directly into the soft rock of the ravines south-east of Mottola, in the province of Taranto. The best known, San Nicola, has been called the “Sistine Chapel of rupestrian civilisation in southern Italy”: its walls hold frescoes spanning some four centuries, from a rare three-cross symbolic crucifixion of the iconoclastic age (9th century) to the wise and foolish virgins of the 13th–14th, with saints of both the Byzantine and the Latin tradition — among them a Pantocrator in Deesis, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Nicholas, Saint George and Saint Lucy.
Sant’Angelo, in the medieval village of Casalrotto, is described as unique in Italy among rock churches for being carved on two superimposed levels, the lower one used for burials. Santa Margherita shows the strong Eastern, Byzantine imprint of its painters, while San Gregorio is remarkable for its cross-shaped rock pillars and round arches.
Practical information
The rock churches are visited on guided tours arranged through the local Visit Mottola service (tel. +39 349 326 9302, visitmottola.com).
Guided visits in Italian and French are also run by Angelo Traverso, a licensed guide for Puglia and Basilicata who covers all four churches (materapulia.altervista.org).
Photo gallery
Photos contributed by a Cultural Heritage Online member.
Sources
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See this place and what’s around it →Record researched and written by ANGELO TRAVERSO for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.
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