Great Abbeys of Central Italy

Today we explore the transformation of the classical world and origins of monasticism in Rome. We start with a visit to the Late Roman Houses and an early Christian cult centre, hidden beneath the medieval church of SS Giovanni e Paolo. We continue to the surprising church of San Clemente, whose ever descending levels take us back into the churches origins. In the afternoon, we visit the still working early-medieval convent of SS Quattro Coronati, again built from a late Roman church, and the painted chapel of San Sylvester.

This morning we venture to the Appian Way to explore the Palace and Circus of Maxentius, built by that late antique emperor whose death at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge ushered in the era of Constantine, but not before he had constructed a dynastic centre, complete with a mausoleum, chariot racing circus and palace. Walk over to visit the Catacombs of San Calisto, one of the most spectacular in Rome. In the afternoon we explore the massive basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura, the Papal Basilica - a copy of the original Basilica of St. Peter -to get a sense of the magnificence of early Christian Rome.

Following the early church fathers, we flee the decadence of Rome and drive into the Sabine Hills to Subiaco, where St. Benedict founded his first monastery. Originally a simple cave, he was obliged to house the hundreds of followers who, motivated by his reputation, turned up. His first monastery now hangs precariously suspended above the void of the Annio valley. In the afternoon we shall explore Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli, famously built by the peripatetic emperor, with its different sections named for the wonders he had seen on his travels. The sprawling landscaped complex and tightly organised pavilions and cloisters inspired the early builders of abbeys.

This morning we drive out to Farfa where St. Lawrence the Syrian slew a dragon on the mountainside to found his abbey. Farfa grew to be one of the most influential of all Italian abbeys, owning vast amounts of territory and under the direct control of the Holy Roman Emperor. Time hasn’t been kind to the abbey, both in terms of its power and in terms of physical structure; while there is a small community of Monks, its suggestive buildings are a fragment of what once was. After lunch we venture to the church of Santa Maria in Vescovio in Sabina, set in lovely Sabine countrywide before driving to our next hotel.

We continue to southern Lazio where we explore the Abbey of Fossanova, one of the great centres of Cistercian monasticism, a 11h century reforming order which branched off from the Benedictines. The 13th century abbey, where St. Thomas Aquinas died, is one of the finest examples of early Gothic architecture in Italy. In the afternoon we pass by Sperlonga, the site of the villa of the emperor Tiberius famed for having a dining room built into a cave with decorated with gigantic sculptures of scenes from Homeric legends.

We continue with the Cistercian Abbey at Casamari, founded under the patronage of Frederick II Stuper Mundi. Its austere and bare stone chambers are a reminder of the strict rule of the order. In the afternoon, we ascend Montecassino to visit St Benedict’s greatest creation, the great abbey on the rock. Built on top of a Roman sanctuary to Apollo, the huge abbey - the home of the Benedictine Order - was a power in its own right; its Arch Abbot counted as one of the princes of the church. In 1944 it was bombed to destruction by the allies during the Second World War, though it has been rebuilt in a masterpiece of reconstruction.

On our last full day, we drive into the Apennine mountains to San Vincenzo to see two abbeys. One, built by Charlemagne with painted and decorated crypts, was one of the great centres of civilisation during the Dark Ages before its untimely destruction by the Saracens. The abbey which replaced it, built during the 11th century and still active, is much more austere, in keeping with the reforming century which conceived it. We end the day with a visit to the excavations at the little known ancient site of Venafro, famed in antiquity for its olive oil.

Our tour finishes after breakfast.