Dome

Capella Della Madonna (Chapel of Our Lady); right wall with a fresco of the "Death of the Virgin" and view into the Sacro Speco; Located at Subiaco in the Lazio region south of Rome the Abbey of St. Benedict was constructed in the thirteenth century on top of the grotto (Sacro Speco) where St. Benedict (ca. 480-547), the founder of the Western monastic movement, allegedly spent the first three years of his monastic life. Built at 640 metres, the monastery consists of two small churches and a succession of chapels and grottoes that are joined by a series of stairs. With the exception of the grottoes the frescoes were done by a variety of artists over different time periods who, for the most part, are unknown. Saint Francis of Assisi visited the monastery in 1223; there is a portrait of him painted during his lifetime. Sacro Speco is united under a single abbot with the nearby Santa Scholastica monastery. Source: Sacred Destinations Travel Guide [website]; http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ (accessed 7/15/2010)