Grotto of S. Alessandra "a rutta ra rugna"
In the central part of Cava d'Ispica .. Near the rock settlement of the Convent. The oratory consists of two separate rooms. In the first one we can distinguish, within a dark frame, the remains of a fresco which most likely depicted the Saint; the second, smaller in size, has a rocky floor in which there is a circular hole for collecting water. This sulfur-rich water, today as in the past, is believed to be miraculous for healing skin diseases. It is an ancient tradition that in order to obtain healing it is necessary to leave a personal garment in place.
Here is a text by Melchiorre Trigilia
… A short distance away (from the Convent) there is an environment made up of two communicating rooms. In the first there are still a few remains of the panels mentioned by Minardo. The second environment is characterized by a large hole in the floor, on which water collects, which then flows outside through a cabaletta carved into the rock. The local farmers call it "to belch ra rugna”(Cave of scabies), frequented until recently, due to the belief that water that contains sulfur can cure scabies. Indeed there is no spring and the water filters through the limestone dripping from above, as happens in stalactitic karst cavities; nor is there a smell and trace of sulfur. On the other hand, the site is geologically part of the “Ragusa Formation”, which is calcarenite-marly, in which there is no trace of the chalky-sulphurous series (Geologist G. Monaco).
This saint Alexandra, in the light of current knowledge, is found in Sicily only on this site and in another small rock church in the Modica area now transformed into a cistern. The archaeologist Aldo Messina (The rock churches of the Val di Noto, 1994) opines that it is Alessandra, contemporary of St. George, martyr together with his companions Apollo, Isaac and Chordate in 303, under Diocletian, of whom she would be the wife. The cult of these martyrs was introduced by the Bishop of Guadix in Spain only in his diocese in 1629, and from this diocese, according to Messina, it would have come to our part. But the veneration of these saints is much older, as confirmed by the Eastern Synaxaries and therefore could have been introduced in our districts in the Byzantine age. Then there are three other martyrs of Alexandria: one from Ancira with Theodotus, one from Antioch with Teoctisto and one from Amiso, a martyr with her six companions under Maximian. (cf. Sanctorum Library sv, vol I, Rome 1961). Nor is a vulgar mutation of the toponym in agionimo to be excluded. it would be St. Catherine of Alexandria, the martyr of the third century, whose cult was widespread in Sicily in the Byzantine age and after and who is also depicted in the cave of the Saints in Cava d'Ispica.
It is also an imaginative unlikely invention of some peasant in the area, who unfortunately has been given credit, that this cult would have been introduced in the seventeenth century by the Franciscans of Ispica, practiced with scabies, because the saint was invoked to heal her, like S. Rocco for leprosy. The Friars Minor would have even stayed here to cure the disease, until 1940! Apart from the fact that no Saint Alexandra is invoked against scabies, this news is invented and has no basis. Neither Minardo nor Moltisanti talks about it, there is no testimony on the subject in the archive of the Convent nor local tradition and the elderly Friars (in the forties the uncle of the writer, Fr. Alberto Trigilia was Guardian) reject this lie, fruit of superstitious credulity popular!
Una similar cave is located in the rock village of Timpa Yesterday al Mulinello in the Lentinese area (see A. Messina, The rupestrian churches of Syracuse, 1979). The rectangular chamber that opens in the central part of the middle row leads into a karst sinkhole where dripping water is collected, just like here. On the opposite wall there is a niche intended to contain a cult object. It cannot be a simple water collection system; it is very likely an-
that here of a sacred baptismal environment: The charcoal drawings of nearby rooms, one of which represents a sailing ship, confirm, in our opinion, the cultic character. The ship, in fact, according to the ancient Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, is a symbol of the Church that leads the faithful to the port of salvation.
In conclusion, it is also a question here laura or convent of monks from the Byzantine and perhaps late Roman - Paleochristian age with an ancient one attached Baptismal font. Even the archaeologist G. Di Stefano (Rocky Sicily..., 1986) was of the opinion that it is a "rock baptistery". Guzzardi proposes the dating to the VI-VII century. AD, after the Byzantine occupation and before the Muslim invasion. But, in our opinion, an older dating, the second half of the century, cannot be excluded and perhaps it is more probable. IV, shortly after the arrival of S. Ilarione and in the same period of the Christian tombstones found in Cava d'Ispica.
In the first centuries of the Christian era, indeed, the rite of baptism was very simple and was administered both by immersion and by infusion. In both cases a basin (pelvis) was needed to hold the water or to collect the water that fell on the head of the baptized. In this cave there is only the basin, suitable for infusion and the “Baptistery” (tabernaculum) for immersion is missing. In Didache (50-60 AD) it says: “You must baptize. In living water. If you do not have living water, baptize in another water, cold or hot. Otherwise pour the water on the head three times ”(Cfr. EIT, Enc. Catt.).
This source therefore, due to its simplicity, could also date back to the Paleochristian age. On the other hand, the first Christian communities in the area had to have fountains and baptisteries where the first and most important of the sacraments of faith were administered.
We could advance the hypothesis that the aforementioned scabies rumor has this foundation: as baptismal water washes the soul of sins so this water could cleanse the body of scabies.
It is also likely that Christians have exploited older or later Bronze Age excavations, as in other similar sites.
Adapted from "La Cava D'Ispica" di Melchiorre Trigilia "published with the authorization of Prof. Melchiorre trigilia" in "La Sicilia in Rete"
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: from the drawing of the book by Melchiorre Trigilia (by S, Giglio)
Information contributions: Melchiorre Trigilia, Ignazio Caloggero
