San Benedetto Monastery (Subiaco)

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San Benedetto Monastery (Subiaco)
Map of San Benedetto Monastery (Subiaco)
Basic data
Country Italy
Church region Lazio
Ecclesiastical province Immediate
Dept Mauro Meacci OSB
surface 1 km²
Parishes 1 (December 31, 2011 / AP2013 )
Residents 38 (December 31, 2011 / AP2013 )
Catholics 38 (December 31, 2011 / AP2013 )
proportion of 100%
Diocesan priest 1 (December 31, 2011 / AP2013 )
Religious priest 12 (31.12.2011 / AP2013 )
Catholics per priest 3
Friars 24 (December 31, 2011 / AP2013 )
Religious sisters 8 (December 31, 2011 / AP2013 )
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language Italian
cathedral Basilica Cattedrale di S. Scolastica
Co-cathedral Concattedrale di S. Andrea Apostolo
address Piazza S. Andrea Apostolo 1, 00028 Subiaco [Roma], Italia
Website www.benedettini-subiaco.it

The monastery of San Benedetto , also known as Sacro Speco (Holy Fissure), belongs to the Territorial Abbey of Subiaco ( Latin : Territorialis Abbatia Sublacensis or Protocoenobium Sublacense ) of the Benedictine order . The main monastery of the Territorial Abbey is the Santa Scolastica Monastery , which is about 1 km below San Benedetto. It is located on Monte Talèo above Subiaco , 75 km east of Rome in the Aniene Valley in the Simbruini Mountains .

history

At its core it goes back to the "Sacro Speco", the cave in which, according to tradition, Benedict of Nursia spent three years as a hermit around the year 500 before he founded 13 monasteries in the Aniene Valley; Of these, the Santa Scolastica Abbey in Subiaco (Lage) is still preserved today. The San Benedetto Monastery is looked after by the Benedictine monks of the Santa Scolastica Abbey.

The monastery building of San Benedetto was erected from the 12th century and is - supported by nine high arches - built close to the rock face. The upper and lower church, richly decorated with frescoes, the Holy Grotto (Sacro Speco) with a Benedict statue by Antonio Raggi , ( Bernini's pupil ), and a Byzantine fresco fragment from the 8th century in the “Grotto of the Shepherds” are noteworthy in terms of art history .

Founding tradition

In the second book of the "Dialogues and Miracles of the Italian Fathers", Gregory the Great tells about Benedict's stay in Subiaco: The young Benedict retired as a hermit in a cave near Subiaco for three years. He received hermit robes and food from a monk close by Monastery called Romanus. He was noticed and asked to take over the post of abbot in Vicovaro; Rejected there, he returned to Subiaco and founded a total of 13 monasteries there and in the Aniene Valley in the following 20 years - before he left for Montecassino 529.

Frescoes

The frescoes in the upper church come from the school of Siena (14th century) and show scenes from the life of Jesus from the entry into Jerusalem to the apparition of the risen Christ (and spirit broadcast). The frescoes in the lower front part of the upper church with episodes from the life of St. Benedict are attributed to the Umbrian-Mark school of the 15th century. The frescoes in the lower church (again scenes from the life of Benedict) are signed “Magister Conxolus” (Roman school of the 13th century). The fresco of Francis of Assisi in the chapel of St. Gregor; it is considered to be the oldest image of the saint and still depicts him without wounds or halos.

literature

  • Il Sacro Speco e il Monastero di Santa Scolastica . Subiaco 1975.

Web links

Commons : Monastery of San Benedetto  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ On the inscribed dating to the 2nd year of the pontificate of Gregory IX. , so in the year 1228, already drew attention: Henry Thode : Francis of Assisi and the beginnings of the art of the Renaissance in Italy. Grote, Berlin 1885, p. 80 f. ( Digitized version ); so also Gerhart B. Ladner : The oldest picture of St. Francis of Assisi. A contribution to medieval portrait iconography. In: Peter Classen , Peter Scheibert (Hrsg.): Festschrift Percy Ernst Schramm dedicated to his seventieth birthday by students and friends. Volume 1. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1964, pp. 449-460 (reprinted in Gerhart B. Ladner: Images and Ideas in the Middle Ages. Selected studies in history and art. Volume 1. Edizioni de storia e letteratura, Rome 1983, p. 377-391); Helmut Feld : The iconoclasm of the West. Brill, Leiden 1990, p. 81; the same: Francis of Assisi. 2nd, revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 82; the fresco: Niklaus Kuster: The fresco of Frater Franciscus in Subiaco: Contrasting dates and interpretations in critical synopsis holds for the later reworking of a Benedict portrait from 1228 . In: Science and Wisdom. Vol. 62, 1999, pp. 49-77.

Coordinates: 41 ° 55 '0.1 "  N , 13 ° 7' 7.3"  E