Sacro Speco historical timeline

Last updated on October 8, 2026

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494 Benedict, aged about fourteen, retires from the world and lives three years in a cave above the River Aniene, supplied with necessities by the monk Romanus. From this grotto he develops the concepts and the organisation of the Benedictine order, builds twelve monasteries including one at the grotto itself, and places twelve monks in each.
854 A record notes the grotto's renovation. Pope Leo IV is said to have consecrated an altar to Saints Benedict and Scholastica, Benedict's sister, and another to Saint Sylvester.
1053 Another renovation, under Abbot Humbert of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica, the other Benedictine house at Subiaco, a mile and a half below the grotto.
1073 Abbot John V, made cardinal by Gregory VII, turns the grotto into the terminus of a yearly procession, builds a new road to it and has the altars reconsecrated.
1200 A community of twelve monks is established here, and Innocent III confers the title of priory on it.
1228 The portrait of Francis of Assisi is painted, between this year and 1229 on the evidence of the inscription naming Cardinal Ugolino, the future Gregory IX. Francis is shown without stigmata and without halo, because the Church has not yet raised him to the altars.
1312 John XXII appoints a special abbot for the monks.
1657 Antonio Raggi makes the statue of Saint Benedict.
1688 The city of Subiaco builds a new road to the monastery.
1909 On 27 October, Pius X grants a daily plenary indulgence to those who receive Holy Communion at the grotto and pray according to the pope's intention. It remains a place of pilgrimage.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

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Checked against Wikipedia — When Saint Benedict, at the age of fourteen around 494, retired from the world he lived for three years in a cave above the River Aniene, supplied with the necessaries of life by the monk Saint Romanus; from this grotto he developed the concepts and organization of the Benedictine Order, built twelve monasteries including one at the grotto, and placed twelve monks in each, A record of 854 noted the grotto's renovation, in which year Pope Leo IV is said to have consecrated an altar to Saints Benedict and Scholastica and another to Saint Sylvester; another renovation took place in 1053 under Abbot Humbert of the Abbey of St Scholastica, and Abbot John V, created cardinal by Pope Gregory VII, made the grotto the terminus of a yearly procession, built a new road and had the altars reconsecrated. By 1200 there was a community of twelve monks, on which Innocent III conferred the title of priory, and John XXII in 1312 appointed a special abbot for the monks; a new road was built by the city in 1688, Among the frescoes of the monastery is one depicting Francis of Assisi considered his oldest and most faithful representation; the saint is shown still without stigmata and without a halo, and is to be dated between 1228 and 1229 on the basis of the inscription in the scene depicting Cardinal Ugolino, the future Pope Gregory IX. Its author would be a painter of Roman origin or at least connected with that artistic circle, whom Pietro Toesca had linked to the Third Master of the Crypt of Anagni Cathedral, and to whom a panel painting also depicting Saint Francis, now in the Louvre, has been attributed, The interior is covered with fresco decoration of various periods, from the first Byzantine works of the eighth century to the portrait of Saint Francis, the paintings of Magister Consolus in the thirteenth century and the Sienese and Umbrian-Marchigian frescoes decorating the upper church and other rooms in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; the most significant cycles are of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and are well preserved, developing three main themes -- the Passion of Christ, the life of the Virgin and the life of Benedict of Nursia -- and there is also a statue of Saint Benedict by Antonio Raggi of 1657, The sacred grotto is still a favourite place of pilgrimage, and on 27 October 1909 Pius X granted a daily plenary indulgence to those who received Holy Communion there and prayed according to the intention of the pope; the Abbey of St Scolastica is located about a mile and a half below the grotto (October 2026).

Sacro Speco historical timeline

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