The Territorial abbey of La Trinità della Cava (), commonly known as Badia di Cava, is a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

territorial abbey located near Cava de' Tirreni, in the

province of Salerno The province of Salerno () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. It has 1,054,766 inhabitants as of 2025. Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Bat ...

, southern Italy. It stands in a gorge of the Finestre Hills.

History

It was founded in 1011 by Alferius of Pappacarbone, a noble of Salerno who became a Cluniac monk and had lived as a hermit in the vicinity since 1011.

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II (; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermon ...

endowed this monastery with many privileges, making it immediately subject to the Holy See, with jurisdiction over the surrounding territory. The first four abbots were canonized as saints on December 21, 1893, by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

. In 1394,

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX (; ; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death, in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope during the Western Schism.Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of t ...

elevated it to a diocese, with the abbots functioning as bishops. In 1513,

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

separated the two offices, detaching the city of Cava from the abbot's jurisdiction. About the same time the Cluniacs were replaced by Cassinese monks. The monastery was closed under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

but the community remained relatively unscathed, thanks to Abbot Carlo Mazzacane, and was restored after his fall. The abbey still provides the surrounding parishes with clergy. The church and the greater part of the buildings were entirely modernized in 1796. The old Gothic cloisters are preserved. The church contains a fine organ and several ancient sarcophagi. The church of the monastery has the tombs of Queen Sibylla of Burgundy (died 1150), second consort of King

Roger II of Sicily Roger II or Roger the Great (, , Greek language, Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Kingdom of Sicily, Sicily and Kingdom of Africa, Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon, C ...

, and a number of notable ecclesiastics.Burial places of rulers of Sicily
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Library

The monastery contains the Biblioteca statale del Monumento Nazionale Badia di Cava with its rich archives of public and private documents, which date back to the 8th century, e.g., the ''Codex Legum Longobardorum'' of 1004 (the oldest digest of Lombard law), and the La Cava Bible and fine ''

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

''. The monastery later became the seat of a national educational establishment, under the care of the Benedictines.

Abbots

*Saint Alferius of Pappacarbona (1011–1050) *Saint Leo I of Cava (1050–1079) *Saint Peter of Pappacarbone (1079–1122) *Saint Constabilis (1122–1124) *Blessed Simeon (1124–1140) *Blessed Falcone (1140–1146) *Blessed Marino (1146–1170) *Blessed Benincasa (1171–1194) *Ruggiero (1194) *Blessed Peter II (1195–1208) *Blessed Balsamo (1208–1232) *Blessed Leonard (1232–1255) *Blessed Leo II (1266–1295) *Philip de Haya (1316–1331) *Maynerio (1342–1366) ;Bishop-Abbots *John of Aragon *Oliverio Carafa ;Abbots *Crisostomo d'Alessandro (1512–1517) *Gerolamo Guevara (1528–1552) *Pellegrino Dell'Erre (1549–1550) *Vittorino Manso (1588–1592) *Giulio Vecchioni (1630–1633) *Gregorio Lottieri (1640–1642) *Giuseppe Lomellino (1647–1651) *Severino Boccia (1671–1677) *Gaetano Dattilo (1772–1778) *Raffaele Pasca (1781–1787) *Tommaso Capomazza (1793–1801) *Carlo Mazzacane (1801–1824) *Pietro Candida (1844–1849) *Onofrio Granata (1849–1858) *Michele Morcaldi (1878–1894) * Benedetto Bonazzi (1894–1902) *Silvano de Stefano (1902–1908) *Angelo Maria Ettinger (1910–1918) *Giuseppe Placido M. Nicolini (1919–1928) * Ildefonso Rea (1929–1945) * Mauro De Caro (1946–1956) * Fausto Mezza (1956–1967) * Michele Alfredo Marra (1969–1992) * Benedetto Maria Salvatore Chianetta (1995–2010)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badia di Cava Churches in the province of Salerno Benedictine monasteries in Italy Cava de' Tirreni 1025 establishments in Europe 11th-century establishments in Italy Christian monasteries established in the 1010s Monasteries in Campania Buildings and structures in the Province of Salerno

History

Library

Abbots

See also

References

External links