World Europe Italy Lazio Subiaco Attractions Abbey of Santa Scolastica Discover

Abbey of Santa Scolastica

Discover Abbey of Santa Scolastica

Last updated on October 9, 2026

Rate

Introduction

The Abbey of Santa Scolastica stands just outside Subiaco and is still an active Benedictine house -- a territorial abbey first founded in the 6th century by Benedict of Nursia, who made his first hermitage in one of the caves here. It is named for Benedict's sister Scholastica, herself a monastic, and it gives its name to the Subiaco Congregation: 64 male Benedictine monasteries on five continents, with 45 female monasteries also attached.

Architecture

The buildings are arranged around three cloisters, and they run backwards in time as you go in: the Renaissance court first, then the Gothic, then the Cosmatesque, which is the oldest.

The Cosmati cloister is signed. Cut into the limestone archivolt on its south side is Magister Jacobus Romanus fecit hoc opus -- the Roman marble-worker Jacopo il Vecchio, son of Lorenzo di Tebaldo, who began it probably before 1210. When he died around 1240 his son Cosma, the man whose name the whole Cosmatesque craft took, finished it with his own sons Luca and Jacopo. Its portico runs on Romanesque arches carried by colonnettes that are sometimes paired, sometimes single and twisted; the capitals are all different, in white Carrara marble, and they were taken after an earthquake from San Clemente, the first of the Benedictine houses, which had been fitted into rooms of Nero's villa nearby. Two of the colonnettes carry carvings worth finding: a devil's face on one, an upside-down human head on another.

The Gothic cloister, built between the late 1200s and the early 1300s, is six-sided and deliberately irregular -- two rectangles on different alignments welded together, because the sides next to the church had to respect the older monastery while the others swing east. It takes its name from the pointed, double-splayed arches on heavy piers. At its centre is a hexagonal well with a parapet on marble columns that came from Nero's villa. The north wall is set with fragments from the monastery's successive churches and from the villa, including a slab opposite the church portal carved with two deer drinking from a vessel on a plant -- a eucharistic emblem. The west side opens with a large double flamboyant arch of the 1400s, framing the Gothic church front and the Romanesque campanile in one view.

The Renaissance cloister is the newest part. Work began in 1580 under abbot Cirillo di Montefiascone and finished only in 1689 under abbot Michelangelo Inurea, brother of the doge Luca Maria. Its west side is a reconstruction: the original was destroyed in the bombing of 23 May 1944. The north and east ranges, which before 1580 formed the monastery's facade and entrance, are now built over.

The church is the odd one out, and openly so. It stands over Benedict's first oratory, whose traces were found in 1962; a second church probably went up over that in the 9th century, and remains of it still surface under the campanile. The third, consecrated in 980 by Benedict VII, was Romanesque; in 1300 it was rebuilt to exactly the same dimensions in Gothic-Cistercian form, and the original rose window still survives in the transept. Then in 1769 Giacomo Quarenghi recast the whole thing in neoclassical style, following the Gothic structure beneath but taking Palladio -- specifically the Redentore on the Giudecca in Venice -- as his model. It is a Latin cross with a single nave, irregularly rectangular to the point of being almost trapezoidal, under a barrel vault. The five-storey campanile is older than all of it: the French abbot Umberto had it raised in 1052-53, perhaps on the bell tower of the 980 church, which itself stood on the narthex of the 9th-century one, of which four massive pillars and their arches remain.

The short history

Benedict of Nursia withdrew to a cave above Subiaco in the early 6th century and twelve monasteries grew up around him. Santa Scolastica, named for his sister, is the only one that survived the earthquakes and the Saracens, and was the sole monastery of Subiaco until the end of the 12th century. It has been continuously Benedictine since, apart from a brief suppression under the French.

Read the full historical timeline guide →

How it was built and evolved over time

The abbey was not built so much as accumulated. It stands east of Subiaco at 510 m, laid out lengthwise along the valley, and it was probably made in the first place out of buildings belonging to Nero's villa below -- which is also where a good deal of its later material came from. The marble columns holding the parapet of the Gothic cloister's hexagonal well are from the villa; so are fragments set into the north wall beside pieces salvaged from the monastery's own earlier churches.

Reuse is the method throughout. The Carrara capitals of the Cosmati cloister were lifted from San Clemente after an earthquake brought that monastery down, and San Clemente had itself been installed in rooms of the villa. The church is four buildings stacked on one footprint: Benedict's oratory, a 9th-century church over it, the Romanesque church consecrated in 980, and the Gothic rebuilding of 1300 which kept the earlier dimensions exactly rather than enlarging. Even Quarenghi, recasting the interior in 1769, worked to the Gothic structure that was already there.

The campanile shows the same logic vertically. Abbot Umberto raised the five-storey tower in 1052-53, probably on the bell tower of the 980 church, which stood in turn on the narthex of the 9th-century church -- four heavy pillars and their arches from that narthex are still in place underneath.

The one part built from nothing on a clear plan, the Renaissance cloister, took 109 years: begun 1580, finished 1689.

Frequently asked questions

Is this where St Benedict's cave is?

No -- that is the Sacro Speco, the monastery of San Benedetto, a few kilometres away and a separate house with its own entrance and telephone. Santa Scolastica is where the three cloisters and the abbey church are. Most visitors do both.

How many monasteries did Benedict found at Subiaco?

Twelve, according to the monastic community itself and the Italian source. Santa Scolastica is the only one to have survived the earthquakes and the Saracen destructions, and until the end of the 12th century it was the only monastery left in Subiaco. (The English Wikipedia article says thirteen; the community that lives there says twelve.)

Why is the church neoclassical when everything else is medieval?

Because Giacomo Quarenghi recast it. The church had been Romanesque, consecrated in 980 by Benedict VII, then rebuilt to the same dimensions in Gothic-Cistercian form in 1300. In 1769 Quarenghi redid the interior in neoclassical style, following the Gothic structure underneath but modelling the decoration on Palladio, specifically the church of the Redentore at the Giudecca in Venice.

What is the Cosmati cloister and who built it?

It is the oldest of the three, and it is signed: Magister Jacobus Romanus fecit hoc opus is cut into the archivolt on the south side. Jacopo il Vecchio, son of Lorenzo di Tebaldo, began it probably before 1210; after his death around 1240 his son Cosma -- from whom the Cosmatesque craft takes its name -- completed it with his sons Luca and Jacopo.

Is it true parts of it came from Nero's villa?

Yes. The monastery was probably made in the first place out of buildings of the nearby villa, the marble columns under the hexagonal well in the Gothic cloister came from it, and fragments from it are set into that cloister's north wall. The Carrara capitals in the Cosmati cloister came from San Clemente -- another Benedictine house that had itself been fitted into rooms of the villa -- after an earthquake.

Was the abbey damaged in the Second World War?

Yes. It was bombed on 23 May 1944 and then restored; the west range of the Renaissance cloister is a reconstruction.

Is it still a working monastery?

Yes. It is an active Benedictine abbey, and nineteen monks live across the two Subiaco houses -- most at Santa Scolastica, a small group at the Sacro Speco. It gives its name to the Subiaco Congregation: 64 male monasteries on five continents, with 45 female monasteries also attached.

What is a territorial abbey, and is it still one?

It means the abbot has jurisdiction much as a bishop does. Benedict XV granted Subiaco that status in 1915, and from then the abbey had jurisdiction over 29 nearby parishes. In 2002 the Holy See transferred those parishes to neighbouring dioceses, leaving the abbot as ordinary over the abbey church, the Sacro Speco and Benedictine properties close by.

Can I stay at the abbey?

There is a foresteria attached to the monastery with rooms for one to five people and several dining rooms, booked on 0774 85569 or at info@foresteria-subiaco.com. It also takes table reservations.

See Abbey of Santa Scolastica through traveler photos →

Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Wikipedia — The buildings of St Scholastica's Abbey are arranged around three cloisters, the oldest of the 12th-13th centuries in the cosmatesque style, the second in the Gothic style dating to the 14th-15th centuries, and the third from the late 16th century in Renaissance style, finished in 1689; the abbey church is a Gothic building with a Romanesque-style campanile, rebuilt by Giacomo Quarenghi in a neo-classical style that stands apart from the rest of the abbey's architecture (October 2026).
Checked against Monasteri di Subiaco -- Benedictine community of Santa Scolastica — The limestone archivolt on the southern side of the Cosmati cloister at Santa Scolastica reads "Magister Jacobus Romanus fecit hoc opus", naming the Roman marble-worker Jacopo il Vecchio, son of Lorenzo di Tebaldo, who began it probably before 1210; on his death around 1240 his son Cosma, from whom the art of the Roman marmorari took its name, continued and completed the construction together with his sons Luca and Jacopo, The portico of the Cosmati cloister runs from west to east on Romanesque arches resting on colonnettes partly paired and partly single and twisted, one of which bears the face of a devil and another an upside-down human head, with capitals that are always different, in white Carrara marble taken after an earthquake from San Clemente, the first Benedictine monastery to arise in one of the rooms of the nearby villa of Nero, The second cloister of Santa Scolastica, called the Gothic cloister, was built between the end of the 1200s and the beginning of the 1300s, its irregular six-sided form deriving from the union of two rectangles with different orientations, the sides adjacent to the church respecting the arrangement of the oldest part of the monastery while the others follow a direction deviating eastwards; it is called Gothic for the pointed arches with double splay resting on sturdy piers, and at the centre stands a hexagonal well with parapet and marble columns that once belonged to the Neronian villa, On the west side of the Gothic cloister at the third and fourth arches the campanile and Monte Francolano can be seen; the north wall is ornamented with finds from the monastery's various churches and from Nero's villa, and on a slab walled into a pier opposite the church portal is the eucharistic symbol of two deer drinking from a vessel resting on a plant; the west side begins with a large double flamboyant arch of the 1400s from which the facade of the Gothic church and the Romanesque campanile can be seen, and the entrance may once have stood here, as shown in the fresco of the Miracle of the Sickle in the southern gallery, The first or Renaissance cloister is the most recent part of the monastery of Santa Scolastica; its construction began in 1580 during the abbacy of Cirillo di Montefiascone and was completed in 1689 when Michelangelo Inurea, brother of the doge Luca Maria, was abbot; the west side was rebuilt after the bombing of 23 May 1944, and the north and east sides, which before 1580 formed the facade and entrance of the monastery, are today occupied by other buildings, The church of the Monastero di Santa Scolastica stands over the first oratory of St Benedict, whose traces were discovered in 1962; a second church was probably built over it in the 9th century, as can be deduced from remains emerging under the campanile; a third church, consecrated in 980 by Benedict VII, was built in Romanesque style and in 1300 was rebuilt at unchanged dimensions in Gothic-Cistercian style, with the remains of the original rose window still visible in the transept, In 1769 the architect Giacomo Quarenghi restored the church of Santa Scolastica in neoclassical style following the previous Gothic structure; it is a Latin cross with a single nave of irregular rectangular, almost trapezoidal form, with a barrel vault and decorations from the Quarenghi restoration, which took its inspiration from Palladio and in particular from the church of the Santissimo Redentore at the Giudecca in Venice, In 1052-53, perhaps on the bell tower of the church of 980 which was itself built on the narthex of the 9th-century church, of which four large pillars with as many arches remain, the French abbot Umberto had the five-storey campanile raised (October 2026).