The Mother Church of St. Michael the Archangel was built in the 18th century, construction began in 1748. Damaged by the earthquake of November 23, 1980, it underwent extensive restoration, completed in 1994. The church features a Baroque façade with an imposing bell tower, and its interior is in the shape of a Latin cross. It houses paintings by Andrea Vaccaro and Pietro Antonio Ferro dating back to 1601, a wooden statue of Saint Michael dating back to 1400, and a valuable 16th-century antiphonary. Every year, in May, St. Michael the Archangel the protector of Pomarico, is celebrated with three days of Thanksgiving, for the miracle that he made in 1527, when he saved village from the pestilence.


Pomarico is a small town of 4500 inhabitants in Southern Italy, in the region Basilicata, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Matera. The town lies on a hill between the Bradano and Basento rivers at 458 m above sea level in the central-eastern part of the province of Matera.

The origins of Pomarico are very remote; in fact, two very ancient centers, Pomarico Vecchio and Castro Cicurio, are located within its territory. The first was a fortified Lucanian settlement dating back to before the 5th century BC, which later came under the influence of the Magna Graecia colonies, located on the Ionian coast a short distance from the city itself. Castro Cicurio, on the other hand, was a settlement dating back to the period of Roman rule. The current Pomarico was founded in the 9th century by the inhabitants of old Pomarico, after the latter was destroyed several times by the Saracens. During the Norman period, the town belonged as a hamlet to the County of Montescaglioso, and was subsequently subject to the Benedictine Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo for a long time. Numerous feudal lords owned the city over the centuries: starting with Francesco II del Balzo, who rebuilt the church, and the Donnaperna family, who built the large marquis' palace in the second half of the 18th century.

On January 25, 2019, a landslide, followed by other slides, struck the historic center of Pomarico, destroying part of it.