Subiaco

Subiaco, town, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies along the Aniene River, 1,345 feet (410 m) above sea level, about 45 miles (73 km) east of Rome. Its ancient name recalls its position below three small lakes where the emperor Nero built a villa. An inundation destroyed the lakes in 1305, and only traces remain of the villa. St. Benedict retired as a hermit (c. 494) to a cave, Sacro Speco (“Holy Grotto”), above the lakes; he founded 12 monasteries in the district before departing for Cassino. The Abbey of San Benedetto on the mountain slope has 9th-century frescoes in the Grotta dei Pastori (“Grotto of the Shepherds”). St. Benedict’s cave and the lower church of Sacro Speco contain 13th-century frescoes; scenes from the life of Christ by painters of the 13th- and 14th-century Sienese school are in the upper church. The church dedicated to St. Scholastica, St. Benedict’s sister, was first built in 981; it was reconstructed in the Gothic style after an earthquake (1228). The first printing press in Italy was established in the Church of Santa Scholastica by the German monks Arnold Pannartz and Conrad Schweinheim in 1464. The town itself is dominated by the Rocca Abaziale (fortress), originally built in 1073. Subiaco preserves its medieval form and owes many of its buildings to Pope Pius VI, who as cardinal was commendatory abbot of the monastery.

The town is an important agricultural centre and has paper mills and stone quarries. Pop. (2006 est.) mun., 9,296.