Abbeys and monasteries in Lazio

The region of Lazio is home to some of the most illustrious religious centers in the history of Christianity: the Abbey of Montecassino, that of Casamari, the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova, the Benedictine Abbey of Farfa, the sanctuary of St. Christina in Bolsena. The destination of particularly devoted pilgrimages has been Montecassino. The abbey is on the peak of Monte Calvario; St. Benedict lived there in 529: here he dictated his Rule and here he still rests, together with St. Scolastica. Several times destroyed, most recently during the Second World War, each time the abbey has been exactly reconstructed, in the form taken in the 16th and 17th centuries. Casamari is one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic, and Fossanova, where St. Thomas Aquinas died and is buried, was the first Cistercian abbey in Italy.

The Benedictine Abbey of Farfa was one of the most powerful monastic centers of the Middle Ages, establishing itself as an economic and cultural force of the first order. The sanctuary basilica of St. Christina, with its magnificent stone and marble-work, is dedicated to one of the saint's miracles.

Other noteworthy sites in Lazio are the Charterhouse of Trisulti, an isolated structure set in lovely woodlands, and the Franciscan sanctuaries of Poggio Bustone, La Foresta, Fonte Colombo, and Greccio. At Greccio St. Francis stopped to pray and, after receiving a vision, dictated the definitive Rule of his minor friars and commemorated the birth of Christ with the world's first living Nativity scene.