The Sacro Speco — the Holy Cave — is one of the most extraordinary religious sites in Italy. The Benedictine monastery is built directly into the cliff face of a steep gorge above the Aniene River, constructed around the grotto where Saint Benedict of Nursia lived as a hermit from around 500 AD. It was here, in this cave, that Western monasticism was born.
The complex occupies two levels of church, both covered in medieval frescoes. The upper church contains a celebrated portrait of Saint Francis of Assisi — painted during his lifetime, making it one of the oldest known likenesses of the saint. The lower church descends into the Sacred Cave itself, where a statue of the young Benedict marks the spot of his hermitage. A rose garden below the monastery — legend has it cultivated from a briar patch that Benedict threw himself into to resist temptation — is fragrant in late spring.
The climb up from Santa Scolastica takes about twenty minutes through oak woodland. Modest dress is required. story: "The portrait of Saint Francis in the upper church was painted around 1224, during the saint's lifetime, making it one of the oldest known images of Francis. He visited Subiaco that year and is said to have asked that it not resemble him too closely — yet the fresco is hauntingly specific."