Sosandra, a 2500 year long history. Story of the archaeological excavation on the island of Sant’Eufemia.

I was in the heart of an archaeological dig. It happened last summer, July 2022. As a guest of archaeologists from the Universities of Bari and Foggia, I was on the island of Sant’Eufemia, off the coast of Vieste. The island has hosted places of worship for hundreds of years: dozens of men have stopped there due to the presence of the sanctuary or a water source. To the 3rd century BC some finds found near a cave sanctuary date back to the cult of Venus Sosandra, which over the centuries became a Christian rock church. In the mid-19th century, following the unification of Italy, the island became home to a lighthouse. Unfortunately the island also served as a quarry and many of the more remote testimonies have disappeared. Today only a single cave remains of the ancient sanctuary but it bears dozens of inscriptions on the walls which have allowed archaeologists to reconstruct part of its history. Among the inscriptions, the one left by Doge Orseolo II who stopped here with his ships before liberating Bari from the Saracens in 1003 is worthy of mention. Even the many light-makers who followed one another left traces of their passage, sometimes erasing ancient inscriptions hundreds of years. Net of the history, the finds, the excavations, I find fascinating the idea that over the course of 2500 years, whether due to the devotion to Venus, the Madonna or the presence of the lighthouse, the island was a sacred place for position, for the opportunity to constitute a precious landing place, almost as if the island itself were the incarnation of Venus or the Madonna, as if the island were Sosandra, the savior of men. Video by Lorenzo Scaraggi – Vostok100k and Gianfranco Maiullari Production Omero su Marte. Direction, lyrics and editing by Lorenzo Scaraggi. Filming by Lorenzo Scaraggi and Gianfranco Maiullari. For the creation of this video we thank: University of Bari, University of Foggia, ASSO-Underwater Archeology Speleology Non-profit organization Rome, Municipality of Vieste, Ministry of Culture, Sabap BAT FG. Excavation under MIC SABAP BAT-FG concession (DG ABAP DD n. 659, 24.6.2021).