Project Description
Sacra di San Michele
A thousand years on the mountain. The abbey that towers over the Val di Susa, a place of prayer and pilgrimage, told in a five-episode docuseries.
01A thousand years on the mountain
For over a thousand years the Sacra di San Michele has towered over the Val di Susa, looking down on it from the 962-meter summit of Monte Pirchiriano.
A place of prayer and pilgrimage for the faithful traveling the Via Francigena, over the years the building underwent a marked architectural evolution that led it to be considered one of the most important medieval monuments in Europe.
The docuseries moves through its history in five episodes: from its origins before the monastery to the secrets carved in stone, from the Stairway of the Dead to the daily life of the monks preserved in the pages of an ancient volume.
02The docuseries
The trailer · five episodes · Renovatio YouTube channel
03Five stories
The Roman stele. The historical events preceding the construction of the monastery: an unusual stele found on the mountain testifies to human presence since ancient times. Before the monastery existed, Celts, Romans, Lombards, even Arabs occupied the summit.
The Master’s face. Carved on a capital of the church is a face: not a biblical figure, but the self-portrait of the master architect who designed the building. On the feast of St. Michael, light filtering through the small rose window illuminates it as a perpetual reminder.
The Boy’s face. The theft and return of a marble face depicting a young monk: the occasion to tell the story of life at the monastery, where novices and children of noble families received an erudite education while the Sacra gained prestige and political power.
The Stairway of the Dead. The path leading from the base of the monastery up to the church is literally built into the mountainside: from a place of passage it became an initiatory analogy for the monk’s virtuous path toward knowledge and awareness.
The Book of Chants. An ancient volume telling the story of the organization of daily life within the monastery.
04The gallery
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