Castle Sacra di San Michele

Castle Sacra di San Michele or often known as Abbey of Saint Michael is a medieval religious complex in northern Italy. The castle is one of the largest and most important historical buildings in the Italian region of Piedmont.

Sacra di San Michele rises majestically on the hill Pirchiriano, which occupies the southern part of the mountains Val di Susa. The high location of the castle has beautiful views of nearby villages Avigliana and Chiusa di San Michele. Abbey of Saint Michael can be reached easily by car and train.

The monastery is shrouded in mystery and legend. One of the stories is about the creation of Sacra di San Michele and says that it was built with the help of angels. Even the date of construction is unknown, but it was found that the original building that was erected was in place before the 11th century.

The route to the top of the hill where the palace Sacra di San Michele is located, is quite difficult and long. The more you approach the early medieval building, the more you feel the sense of horror, because its appearance is really scary. The final step in achieving the visit to the religious complex is to go up the steep stone staircase, which is thematically named "stairs of the dead”. This name comes from those ancient ages when the dead were seen on the stairs.

Visitors to the medieval complex are reqiured to pay a fee of 5 euros to examine the internal halls and dungeons of the castle. The oldest preserved part of the Castle is the shrine of San Michele, built somewhere around the 10th century, which consists of three chapels located in the inner peripheral part of the complex.

In the Sacra di San Michele you can enjoy the unique medieval wall paintings, some of which are the most precious in the Piedmont. Most of them depict from the ancient medieval religious or mythological scenes.