The Church of San Benedetto, built by the Benedictine monks in the late eleventh century, is one of the most complete examples of Puglian Romanesque architecture in Brindisi. The façade is relatively restrained by the standards of the region — Lecce's baroque exuberance is entirely absent here — but the doorway has fine carved capitals and a carved architrave depicting animals and foliage that rewards close attention.
The attached cloister, partially preserved, gives a sense of the monastery that once surrounded the church. Some of the cloister columns have interlaced arches in the Norman-Arab style that spread across southern Italy during the twelfth century, a reminder that the Norman rulers of Puglia were eclectic borrowers from Islamic architectural traditions. The church is not always open to visitors, but the exterior and cloister can usually be viewed during daylight hours.