He studied to be a priest. He was an archaeologist first by chance and then by passion, don Pietro Monti as the discoverer of a treasure trove of testimonies and archaeological finds from VIII b.C to the dawn of Christianity in the underground of Lacco Ameno.
A short distance from where he was born on 29th of June 1916 and where, except the years spent studying in Salerno, he spent his life and his priestly mission, after his ordination in the Cathedral of Ischia on 5th of July 1942. Five years later, on 17th of September 1947, he was names rector of the church-sanctuary of Saint Restituta , a decisive role, not only for the priest, but also for his birth as a researcher and archaeologist, which would deeply mark the rediscovery and the knowledge of the history of Ischia and the Mediterranean. It was by chance that the young priest made an important archaeological discovery in replacing of a pavement of the “small” church of Saint Restituta. It was in 1952 and under that pavement, while more and more layers of different eras were gradually discovered, a pre-Christian basilica with a cemetery came to light, under which there was a roman cemetery and a construction, still Roman, which don Pietro considered as a temple. Only shortly after they came to the Greek arches, which were seven, perfectly kept and uninterruptedly used by the Pithecusai potters from the foundation of Pithekousai in the VIII century b.C to the Hellenistic age, with testimonies of every clay processing stages until the finished product.
Don Pietro became a great specialist of ancient ceramic. Georg Buchner’s friend, he walked around the island with him and with Alfred Rittmann, looking for traces of ancient settlements, actually identified from a hillside to another in Ischia. He dedicated Ischia preistorica greca romana paleocristiana, written in part with his contribution, to the history of the island in 1968 as well as Ischia archeologia e storia in 1980 and Ischia altomedievale to which followed Ischia nel XVII centenario dell’arrivo di S. Restituta. In the excavations of Saint Restituta he discovered and he open to the public, he created a Museum, looking after its layout, with the precious remains found there. He collaborated with several researchers, cultural Italian and foreign institutions and, during the last years, to the research conducted about the furnaces and their materials from Freie Universität of Berlin. The suggestive representation of the landing of Saint Restituta, which is celebrated every year on 17th of May at San Montano bay, is also the result of don Pietro’s idea.
Don Pietro died in Lacco Ameno on 13th of April 2008.
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