Subiaco ( ) is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, in Lazio, Italy, twenty-five miles from Tivoli alongside the river Aniene. It is mainly renowned as tourist and religious resort for its sacred grotto (Sacro Speco), in the St. Benedict's Abbey, and the other Abbey of St. Scholastica. It is also famous as the first city in Italy where books were printed, in the 15th century.

History

Ancient settlers of the area were the Aequi, an Italic people. In 304 BCE they were conquered by the Romans, who introduced their civilization and took advantage of the waters of the Aniene river. The present name of the city comes from the artificial lakes of the luxurious villa that emperor Nero had built: in Latin sublaqueum means "under the lake", and the name extended to the town that had grown nearby. The biggest of the three Subiaco Dams was to be the highest dam in the world until its destruction in 1305. After the fall of the Roman Empire, 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 above the river Anio, he was supplied with the necessaries of life by a monk, St. Roman. The grotto at the site became the cradle of the Benedictine Order - St. Benedict was able to build twelve monasteries and to place twelve monks in each. The one at the grotto seems to have had a short existence; in 854 we find a record of its renovation. In this year, Pope Leo IV is said to have consecrated an altar to Sts. Benedict and Scholastica and another to St. Sylvester. Another renovation took place in 1053 under Abbot Humbert of St. Scholastica. Abbot John V, created cardinal by Pope Gregory VII, made the grotto the terminus of a yearly procession, built a new road, and had the altars reconsecrated.

Shortly before 1200 there existed a community of twelve, which Innocent III made a priory; John XXII in 1312 appointed a special abbot. A new road was built by the city in 1688. The sacred grotto is still a favourite pilgrimage, and on October 27 1909, Pius X granted a daily plenary indulgence to those who receive Holy Communion there and pray according to the intention of the Holy Father (Acta. Ap. Sedis, II, 405). The Abbey of St. Scholastica, about a mile and a half below the grotto, was built by St. Benedict himself (about 520), and endowed by the Roman patricians, Tertullus and Æquitius. The second abbot, St. Honoratus, changed the old monastery into a chapter room and built a new one, dedicating it to Sts. Cosmas and Damian. It was destroyed by the Lombards in 601 and abandoned for a century. By order of John VII it was rebuilt by Abbot Stephen and consecrated to Sts. Benedict and Scholastica. Demolished in 840 by the Saracens and again in 981 by the Hungarians, it rose from its ruins.

Benedict VII consecrated the new church, and henceforth the abbey was known by the name St. 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 care of the popes. Thus, among others, Innocent III, at his visit, in 1203, increased the revenues of the abbey. With the decline of religious fervour, strife and dissension arose to such an extent that Abbot Bartholomew in 1364, by command of the pope, had to dismiss some of the incorrigible monks and fill their places with religious from other monasteries. Numbers were brought in from Germany and for many decades Subiaco was a center of German thrift, science, and art. Still, it seems the discipline was not satisfactory, for Urban VI (1378-1389) abolished the abbots for life, took away from the monks the right of election, and gave the administration and revenues to a member of the Curia.

Pope Callixtus III, in 1455, gave the abbey in commendam to a cardinal. The first of these was the Spanish Cardinal Torquemada and the second Roderigo Borgia (later Alexander VI), 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. As an example, Pompeo Colonna, Bishop of Rieti, commendatory abbot since 1506, squandered the goods of the abbey and gave the income to unworthy subjects. On complaint of the community, in 1510, Julius II readjusted matters and restored the monastic possessions. For spiritual benefit a union had been made between Subiaco and the Abbey of Farfa, but it lasted only a short time. In 1514. Subiaco joined the Congregation of St. 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 Germans and the Italians.

After this little is known about the abbey and the city until the 19th century. In 1798-1799 and 1810-1814 French troops entered the city, plundering the monasteries and the churches. In 1849 and 1867 Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered the city in his plan to destroy the temporal rule of the Pope: in 1870 the city become definitively part of the Regno d'Italia.

In 1891, a Benedictine abbey founded earlier in Northern Arkansas, United States, changed its name to Subiaco in order to more closely align its teachings and practices to those of the famous abbeys of the Italian namesake.

The German printers Sweinheim and Pannartz established in Subiaco a printing press and printed Donatus pro parvulis, Lactantius (1465) and De Civitate Dei (1467). Those were the very first books to be printed in Italy.

In the first years of the 20th century the area was improved with the connection to a railway, a hydroelectric plant and an aqueduct. Electricity was brought to the houses and a hospital was built. In World War II Subiaco was bombed by Allied planes.

Main sights

In addition to the two abbeys, also noteworthy are:

• Rocca Abbaziale ("Abbots castle"), a massive medieval edifice largely rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Church of Saint Francis (1327), housing notable paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries.
• The medieval St. Francis' bridge, a fortified bridge featuring a span of 37 m
• The neo-classical churches of Sant'Andrea and Santa Maria della Valle.

Notable people

People born in Subiaco, or with important links to the town, include

• Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519)
• Francesco Graziani (born 1952), Italian international footballer
• Gina Lollobrigida (born 1927), film actress

References

External links

• Official Site of the City (in Italian)
• Subiaco and its monasteries (in English)
• Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace: Subiaco Monasteries Photo & History Page
• Sacred Destinations: Subiaco - article and photo gallery
• Simbruina Stagna History and Art of Subiaco (Italian site)