Menhir and Crypt of San Paolo

In Giurdignano the San Paolo menhir is characteristic, which stands on a rocky spur where the crypt of San Paolo was built. On the top there is a hole that provides for the housing of a cross, to indicate how different cultures have overlapped on this single structure, underlining its historical importance.

This menhir just over two meters, is a great example of the Christianization of a pagan monument, in fact its name comes from the underlying Byzantine cave, dedicated to St. Paul. The frescoes' decoration shows the holy Mary and the apostles Peter and Paul, and an original spiderweb of the tarantula, the arachnid that poisons women with its bite and originates the exorcistic phenomenon of the "tarantolate", protected by St. Paul.

places of very ancient menhirs, in this case readapted to Christian worship over the centuries.