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The internal atrium

After having passed through the door of the bull we suddenly find ourselves out in the open in the internal atrium. Here too are various memorial tablets and sarcophaguses. First, on the left, is a marble memorial tablet placed there by Archbishop Alfonso Puccinelli which recalls the liberation of the faithful from the plague in the year 1656.
Right by the side we find the tomb of the Archbishop Alfonso Puccinelli who died in 1658. Passing on we find a chapel which contains an artistic sarcophagus (which goes back to 1408) of Jacopo Pulderico, son of Matteo, Judge and Captain of Monte Sant'Angelo. In front was another funeral chapel that contained the sarcophagus of Francesco Pappacoda, Marquis of Capurso who died in 1680. Only few particulars of the floreal decorations and the emblem of the family remain.
Today it contains a stone statue of Saint John the Baptist in memory of a special religious ceremony (the so - called baptism of water) which is still celebrated on the vigil of the Epiphany.
As we raise our eyes we notice a cornice held by corbels decorated with friezes and escutcheons that goes all along the atrium. The work which goes back to the beginning of the 15th century is made of various materials.

The lower atrium is closes with a most beautiful Romanesque portal with Bronze Doors which permit one to enter into the place chosen by Saint Michael.
The Bronze Doors, work of Greek masters of Constantinople, where made in 1076 and donated to the Basilica by a nobleman of Amalfi called Pantaleone.
The work, unique in its form and contents is subdivided into twenty-four panels on which are represented biblical episodes of the Old and New Testaments which have the angels for protagonists as well as the story of the apparitions of Saint Michael to the Bishop, Saint Lorenzo Maiorano, and finally some moments of the story of the Church in the early centuries.