San Michele Arcangelo is a romanesque style,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in the town of Ausonia,

province of Frosinone The province of Frosinone () is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of and a total population of 493,605 (2016). The province contains 91 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''), listed in the ...

, region of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, Italy.

History

San Michele is the main church of the town, and as its name would suggest, it is sited at the summit of a hill, the highest point in town. St Michael Archangel is the patron saint of high places. Made of white stone, the church was built during the end of the 12th to the early 13th century at the site of a former Roman temple dedicated to the cult of

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

. A number of pillars with pagan themes, including the myth of

Leda and the Swan Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces Leda, a Spartan queen. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while a ...

were used as

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin for 'spoils'; : ''spolium'') are stones taken from an old structure and repurposed for new construction or decorative purposes. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice (spoliation) whereby stone that has been quar ...

in construction. At the entrance are two Roman urns used as holy water receptacles.Comune of Ausonia
entry on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michele Arcangelo Ausonia Churches in the province of Frosinone 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Romanesque architecture in Lazio