Pilgrims’ graffiti

The eastern portion of the Pagan church conserves fresco fragments dating from the 14th century. The left wall bears a depiction of the Annunciation, while St John the Baptist and St Nicholas appear on the right wall. These religious spaces have long been a magnet for devotees, as shown by all the graffiti cut into the frescoes. They contain names, dates and sacred invocations according to a custom that we now rightly consider a form of vandalism but that sprang from people’s desire to leave a mark of their presence in this holy place.