Subiaco is a ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' (municipality) in the
Metropolitan City of Rome Capital
Metropolitan City of Rome Capital () is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Lazio region of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Rome and 120 other ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in the hinterland of the c ...
, in the
Italian region of
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...
, from
Tivoli alongside the
River Aniene. It is a tourist and religious resort because of its sacred grotto (
Sacro Speco), in the medieval , and its
Abbey of Santa Scolastica. It is one of
I Borghi più belli d'Italia
() is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...
("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). The first books to be printed in Italy were produced here in the late 15th century.
History
Among the first ancient settlers in the area were the
Aequi, an Italic people. In 304 BC they were conquered by the
Romans, who introduced their civilization and took advantage of the waters of the
River Aniene. The present name of the city comes from the artificial lakes of the luxurious villa that Roman
Emperor Nero had built: in Latin ''Sublaqueum'' means "under the lake". The name was applied to the town that developed nearby. The biggest of the three
Subiaco Dams
The Subiaco Dams were a group of three Ancient Rome, Roman Dam#Gravity dams, gravity dams at Subiaco, Italy, Subiaco, Lazio, Italy, devised as pleasure lakes for Roman Emperor, Emperor Nero (54–68 AD). The biggest one was the highest dam in the ...
was then the highest dam in the world until its destruction in 1305. After the fall of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, the villa and the town were abandoned, becoming almost forgotten ruins.
When
St. Benedict, at the age of fourteen (), retired from the world and lived for three years in a
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
above the River Aniene, he was supplied with the necessaries of life by a
monk
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
,
St. Roman. From this grotto, St. Benedict developed the concepts and organization of the
Benedictine Order
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...
. He built twelve monasteries, including one at the grotto, and placed twelve monks in each. In 854 a record noted its renovation. In this year,
Pope Leo IV
Pope Leo IV (died 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death in 855. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the ...
is said to have consecrated an altar to Sts. Benedict and
Scholastica
Scholastica (; – 10 February 543) was an Italian Christian hermit and the sister of Benedict of Nursia. She is traditionally regarded as the Organizational founder, foundress of the Benedictines, Benedictine nuns.
Scholastica is honored as ...
, who was St Benedict's sister, and another to
St. Sylvester.
Another renovation took place in 1053 under Abbot Humbert of the Abbey of St. Scholastica. Abbot John V, created
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
by
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
One of the great ...
, made the grotto the terminus of a yearly procession, built a new road, and had the altars reconsecrated. By 1200 there was a community of twelve monks, on which
Innocent III
Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216.
Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...
conferred the title of priory;
John XXII in 1312 appointed a special abbot for the monks. A new road was built by the city in 1688.
The sacred grotto is still a favourite place of pilgrimage. On October 27, 1909,
Pius X granted a daily plenary
indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...
to those who received
Holy Communion there and pray according to the intention of the
pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
(Acta. Ap. Sedis, II, 405). The
Abbey of St. Scolastica, located about a mile and a half below the grotto, was built originally by St Benedict about 520, and endowed by the Roman patricians, Tertullus and Æquitius. The second abbot, St. Honoratus, changed the old monastery into a chapter house and built a new one, dedicating it to
Sts. Cosmas and Damian. It was destroyed by the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...
in 601 and the ruins abandoned for a century. By order of
John VII, it was rebuilt by Abbot Stephen and consecrated to Saints Benedict and Scholastica.
Demolished once more in 840 by the
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens
''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...
and then in 981 by the Hungarians, it was rebuilt each time.
Benedict VII consecrated the new church, and from then on the abbey was dedicated to Santa Scholastica. In 1052,
Leo IX came to Subiaco to settle various disputes and to correct abuses; a similar visit was made by Gregory VII. Special favour was shown by
Paschal II, who took the abbey from the jurisdiction of the
Bishop of Tivoli and made it an abbacy nullius. Its temporal welfare was also a personal care of the popes. Among others, Innocent III at his visit in 1203 increased the revenues of the abbey.
With the decline of religious fervor, strife and dissension among the monks arose to such an extent that Abbot Bartholomew in 1364, by command of the pope, had to dismiss some of the disputatious monks and fill their places with religious from other monasteries. Numerous monks were brought in from Germany, and for many decades Subiaco was a center of German thrift, science, and art.
Urban VI
Pope Urban VI (; ; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death, in October 1389. He was the last pope elected from outside the College of Cardinals. His pontificate be ...
(1378–1389) abolished the position of abbot for life, withdrew from the monks the right of election, and made the administration and revenues the responsibility of a member of the Curia.
The arrival of German monks at Subiaco attracted other Germans. Printers
Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim established the
Subiaco Press here in 1464 and produced an edition of
Donatus, a
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, ''
De Oratore
''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius, the oth ...
'' (September 1465),
Lactantius
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius () was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Crispus. His most impo ...
' ''De divinis institutionibus'' (October 1465) and
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
's ''De civitate Dei'' (1467), which were the first books to be printed in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
Pope Callixtus III, in 1455, gave the abbey
in commendam to a cardinal. The first of these was the Spanish Cardinal
Juan de Torquemada and the second
Roderigo Borgia (later
Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death ...
), who remodeled the Castrum Sublacence, once the summer resort of the popes, and made it the residence of the commendatory abbot. Many of these abbots cared little for the religious life of the monks and looked only for revenue. One example,
Pompeo Colonna,
Bishop of Rieti,
commendatory abbot since 1506, squandered the goods of the abbey and gave the income to people described as unworthy subjects.
On receiving a complaint from the community, in 1510
Julius II readjusted matters and restored the monastic possessions. For spiritual benefit, a union was made between Subiaco and the
Farfa Abbey, but it lasted only a short time. In 1514, Subiaco joined the Congregation of Santa Justina, whose abbot-general was titular of St. Scholastica, while a cardinal remained commendatory abbot. Even after this union there were quarrels between Subiaco and Farfa, Subiaco and
Monte Cassino
The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...
, essentially between the Germans and the Italians.
After this little is known from historical records about the abbey and the city until the 19th century. In 1798–1799 and 1810–1814
French troops under Napoleon entered the city, plundering the monasteries and the churches. In 1849 and 1867
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
conquered the city as part of his campaign to end the temporal rule of the pope and unify Italy: in 1870 the city became definitively part of the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
.
In 1891, a Benedictine abbey founded earlier in western
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, changed its name to
Subiaco as part of an effort to more closely align its teachings and practices to those of the famous abbeys of the Italian namesake.
In the first years of the 20th century, the Subiaco area was improved by national investment in infrastructure, with the connection to a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
, a
hydroelectric plant and an
aqueduct.
Electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
was brought to the houses and a hospital was built. In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, however, Subiaco was bombed by
Allied planes.
Main sights

In addition to the two abbeys, including
Abbey of Santa Scolastica, also noteworthy are:
*Nero's villa
*
Rocca Abbaziale ("Abbot's castle"), a massive medieval edifice largely rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries
*Church of Saint Francis (1327), holds notable paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries.
*The medieval
Ponte di San Francesco, a fortified bridge featuring a span of 37m
*The neo-classical churches of Sant'Andrea and Santa Maria della Valle
People
*
St Benedict of Nursia (480–543/547)
*
Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto.
Her family arranged ...
(1480–1519)
*
Gioacchino Pagliei (1852–1896), Italian artist
*
Gina Lollobrigida (1927–2023), Italian film actress
*
Pier Paolo Capponi (1938–2018), Italian actor
*
Francesco Graziani (born 1952), Italian footballer
References
External links
Official websiteMonasteries' tourist guides website Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace
Sacred Destinations
Simbruina Stagna History and Art of Subiaco
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Lazio
Borghi più belli d'Italia