The church of S. Michele in Frangesto is located on the old 'panoramic' road that leads from Monopoli to Selva of Fasano, at Loggia di Pilato. For some historians, the structure was an old farmhouse, but according to the Bull of Pope Alexander III, it was part of a women's monastery, built on the land of an abbess around the middle of the 12th century. Its name comes from the archangel and bishop Michael who blessed it in one year of his long episcopate between 1144 and 1176.
The church is in Apulian Romanesque style. The interior is divided into three naves; the two side naves end with a barrel vault; the central one with a barrel vault and two elliptical domes. While the apses are very evident both inside and outside, the domes, on the other hand, are contained in the two pitches of the roof. In addition to the entrance, two single-lancet windows on the apses of the side aisles and an oculus on the lintel of the central apse are the only sources of light, ensuring a balanced light distribution. A lunate arch portal, now walled up, opened on the northern wall. Traces of painted plaster show that the walls were frescoed. Externally, the small rock church is striking for its small bell gable tower and the brightness of its white plaster, surrounded by unspoilt countryside.

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CREDITS: Comune di Monopoli.