Go Historic

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Anagni Cathedral was a real highlight, thanks to its castle-like appearance and magnificent frescoed crypt. Anagni was the birthplace (and frequent residence) of four popes in the 1200s and its cathedral reflects that importance.

Exterior View from Southeast, 11c, Anagni Cathedral, Italy — View from southeast, with handy parking lot.

Classic Italy, Anagni, Italy — A fine little Italian car next to the cathedral.

Pope Boniface VIII, 15th century — Monument to Pope Boniface VIII, commissioned by the not-so-humble pope himself. It's one of the only surviving contemporary portraits of a medieval pope.

Romanesque Apse Detail, 11c, Anagni Cathedral, Italy — Zoom view of the lovely Romanesque apse.

Romanesque Campanile, 11c, Anagni Cathedral, Italy — Detached bell tower (campanile)

Nave Looking East, 11c, Anagni Cathedral, Italy — Cathedral interior

Crypt of St. Magnus, 1237 — The magnificent Crypt of St. Magnus, covered in bright frescoes with fascinating subjects from the 13th century.

Medieval Science, Crypt Frescoes, 13c, Anagni Cathedral, Italy — A microcosm, theory of the elements, and a debate between the Greek philosophers Galen and Hippocrates.

Crypt Fresco: Persecution of St. John the Evangelist — The martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist by boiling in a cauldron.

The Lapidary Museum is part of the same 3-euro ticket that gets you in the crypt. It displays mainly inscriptions from Anagni ranging from Roman to medieval in date.

We found lunch at this friendly little restaurant ("Taverna of the Popes") next to the cathedral.

lunch in anagni — We both had a nice penne with salmon followed by complimentary biscotti.

Today: San Benedetto in Subiaco

Today we made a morning trip to Subiaco, about 45 minutes northeast. Just outside the town on a mountain cliff is San Benedetto, a monastery built around the cave where St. Benedict spent three years meditating in the 600s AD. It required a steep walk up a few switchbacks, but it was absolutely worth it.

San Benedetto has an exceptionally beautiful and peaceful location built right into the rocks of the mountainside and, like Anagni, it's filled with medieval frescoes. There are two levels to the monastery church, the Upper Church and Lower Church.

The churches were mostly built and frescoed in the 13th through 15th centuries. The subjects of the paintings are mainly biblical scenes, various saints, and scenes from the life of St. Benedict.

St. Francis of Assisi — This portrait of St. Francis is very special, as it shows him without a halo or the stigmata. These and other factors indicate it was painted during his lifetime, before 1224. It is protected behind glass in a small chapel in the Lower Church.

st benedict and a slothful monk — St. Benedict smacking a slothful monk with a rod.

st benedict and st scholastica — St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica enjoying dinner together.

st mark the evangelist — The winged lion, symbol of St. Mark the Evangelist.

The stairway in the lower church led to the monk's cemetery and is decorated with grim subjects reflecting this:

The Stages of Decomposition — Learning about the stages of decomposition

grotto of st benedict — The Grotto of St. Benedict, believed to be the very cave where he lived as a hermit for three years before founding his first monastery.

Bookshop Monk — On the way out we visited the bookshop, manned by a friendly monk.

Finding lunch was, as usual in Italy so far, an astonishingly difficult task. There was a restaurant next to Santa Scholastica but it was closed. So we drove into the town of Subiaco, all the way to the top of the hill and back down again, but didn't find a single open restaurant. Finally, as we were preparing to give up, we spotted the perfect place near the bus station!

lunch in subiaco — It's just the sort of place we always wish for at lunch and had never found - a casual place that sells hot slices of pizza or similar. This one not only had several kinds of pizza, but ready-made pasta dishes and plates of meat they would heat up for you. And cold Coke Zero in a fridge!

â‚¬7.20. The victory at having found the place was almost as delicious as the food.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped in Anagni again, mainly so I could check on whether the Treasury Museum was open. I hadn't known about it until I read my new guidebook on the cathedral last night. I inquired in the bookshop and sadly the answer was no, it wasn't open. There was no indication that it would be anytime soon, either. Oh, well.

Meanwhile, the weather took a serious turn for the worse and by the time I returned to David waiting at the car, the sky had turned an ominous gray and thunder rumbled across the countryside. We snapped a couple photos with the dramatic sky...

..then barely got halfway to our hotel before the heavens opened up and it poured like I haven't seen it pour in a long time! I hope it's sunny again tomorrow, as we are heading to Rome! Hooray!

Anagni and San Benedetto posted April 14, 2008 by Holly Hayes