San Giovanni Rotondo is a town of about 27,000 people in southeastern Italy. It is in the Province of Foggia, which is one of the six Italian provinces that make up the larger region of Apulia, or "Puglia" in Italian. The town is located inland on the Promontorio del Gargano, a peninsula that sits in the shadow of Mount Gargano, and is north of the city of Foggia. San Giovanni Rotondo is perhaps best known as the longtime home of the famed priest Padre Pio.
San Giovanni Rotondo was probably first settled in the 11th century, and its earliest inhabitants were believed to be the Pirgians, who had camped there during their pilgrimages to and from the nearby Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel. The sanctuary is located in Monte Sant'Angelo and consists of a sacred cave and a Roman Catholic shrine. Devout Catholics believe the site was the scene of multiple visits from Archangel Michael.
The town was named in honor of Saint John (San Giovanni), whom the Pirgians adopted as their patron saint after they converted to Christianity. "Rotondo" in the town's name refers to the shape of an ancient baptistery that was built over the ruins of an ancient Roman temple of Jupiter. Before their conversion to Christianity the Pirgians worshipped Janus, the Roman god of gates, beginnings and endings.
Born Francesco Forgione, the son of Grazio Mario and Maria Guiseppa de Nunzio Forgione, Padre Pio (1887-1968) was raised in the small country town of Pietrelcina in southern Italy. Deeply religious from an early age, Pio is said to have dedicated himself to Jesus Christ when he was only 5 years old. He became a Capuchin monk in 1903 and was ordained a priest in 1910. Plagued by illness, Pio was forced to abandon the priesthood and return to the Capuchin brotherhood, which in 1916 assigned him to the town of San Giovanni Rotondo. In September 1918, Pio is reported to have received the stigmata---the visible wounds of Christ's crucifixion, marks that he was to bear for the rest of his life.
Padre Pio died in 1968 and in 2002 was canonized as a saint. Pio's remains are today housed in the Church of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, a massive cathedral designed by award-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano. The cathedral has a capacity of 30,000 and is said to be the second most sacred Catholic shrine in the world. Roughly 15,000 tourists visit the church daily.
San Giovanni Rotondo is the home of many churches that predate the massive cathedral honoring St. Pio. They include the Church of Our Lady of the Angels, originally built in 1540 but rebuilt after a 17th century earthquake, and the Church of Sant'Onofrio, the origins of which can be traced back to the 14th century. Of particular interest are two small churches in the center of town, both of which were built in the 13th century: the churches of San Donato and Santa Caterina.
Of particular interest to American visitors is the Fiorella LaGuardia Hospital, built to honor the memory of the popular Italian-American who served as the mayor of New York City from January 1934 until the end of December 1945. The hospital was built to serve the needs of the many pilgrims visiting San Giacomo Rotondo.
