SANTA MARIA DI GROTTAFERRATA, BADIA GRECA of. — It stands between the Tuscolani and Albani hills at the foot of Monte Cavo, about 18 km from Rome on the ancient Via Latina.
Its foundation dates to 1004, through the work of St. Nilus of Rossano, who, after organizing Eastern cenobitic life in his native Calabria, moved into Campania and then to Lazio, where he was welcomed by Count Gregory of Tusculum, who granted him a vast tract of land that had once formed the Tusculanum of Cicero. There, and in part still existing, are grand remains of a Roman villa from the Republican era. The most important for the history of the abbey is a double chamber in opus quadratum, which originally constituted a sepulchral cell of the villa. Transformed into a Christian oratory as early as the early Middle Ages for the use of the few inhabitants of the area—as evidenced by traces of Greek decorations and graffiti—it took on the characteristic name of “Crypto ferrata” due to the Roman windows with double iron grilles, still extant on every wall. The oldest document bearing this name is a bull of Benedict IX from 1037. Around this modest rural oratory, and utilizing the remains of other Roman constructions, the monastery and church arose, completed by St. Bartholomew, the third successor of St. Nilus, and consecrated by Pope John XIX of the Conti di Tuscolo on 17 December 1024; it is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin under the title of Santa Maria di G., whose ancient icon presides over the temple, drawing numerous faithful. The Supreme Pontiffs granted the abbey privileges and donations, always regarding this Greek monastic institution with benevolence, which arose at the gates of Rome.
S. MARIA DI GROTTAFERRATA
SANTA MARIA DI GROTTAFERRATA, BADIA GRECA of — The Savior enthroned between the Virgin and St. John. At their feet, the abbot of Santa Maria di G. Mosaic of the 13th century — Grottaferrata.
Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, Badia Greca of — The Savior enthroned between the Virgin and St. John. At their feet, the abbot of Santa Maria di G. Mosaic of the 13th century — Grottaferrata.
Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, Badia Greca of — The Savior enthroned between the Virgin and St. John. At their feet, the abbot of Santa Maria di G. Mosaic of the 13th century — Grottaferrata.
From then on, the history of the Badia of Santa Maria di G. became identified with that of the Basilian Congregation of Italy (v. BASILIANI D'ITALIA (ITALO-GRECI)). Benedict XIV, with the apostolic constitution *Inter multa* of 24 April 1747, and Leo XII with the apostolic letter *Inter coetera* of 12 November 1824, had already established that the Latin rite should be followed for the care of souls by one of the monks and a cooperator. Pope Leo XIII, with a decree dated 12 April 1882 from the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda for Oriental Rites, revived the Greek rite in the abbey. The same Sacred Congregation, with the decree *Iannidutum* on the same date, established that the Latin parish should be entrusted to a Latin-rite priest, and with the decree *Quanta Romanorum* of 19 May 1929 separated the Greek parish from the Latin one (AAS, 22 [1930], pp. 134-137). Pius XI, with the apostolic constitution *Perpetuum Cryptaeferratae coenobium* of 26 September 1937, created the abbey *nullius*, detaching its territory from the suburban diocese of Frascati, and established that the ordinary should be the archimandrite *pro tempore* of the Italian Congregation of Basilian monks (AAS, 30 [1938], pp. 183-85). In recent decades, with the renewal of the moral direction of the Badia, focused especially on studies and Eastern apostolate, important restorations have also been carried out on the bell tower and the church, restoring to them externally their original splendor, and the narthex has been rebuilt, where the ancient marble baptismal font has been placed, much admired for its bas-reliefs and the symbolism of the sculptures of the year 1000. In addition to the church, the attention of scholars has always been, as it still is, directed to the Library, for its precious collection of Greek manuscripts, especially liturgical and Byzantine music, from which the monks draw the chants for the divine offices. Particular interest is also aroused by the illuminated codices, the autograph manuscripts of St. Nilus with the stenographic script peculiar to the Saint, which was then followed by his disciple. The *Eudogio* used by the Fathers of the Council of Florence, the codex of Manuel Paleologus bound in blue velvet with the Byzantine double-headed eagle and the monogram of the Paleologi embroidered in silver, the collection of poems by Christopher of Mytilene, the epic poem *Digenis Akritas*, etc. Connected with the Library is the restoration workshop for ancient books, established in 1930.
Important, then, for the ancient and medieval history of the area are the collections of inscriptions, cippi, sculptures, architectural and decorative elements from the Roman and Christian eras, arranged in the ground-floor rooms of the Palazzo Vescovile; and for the origins of Christianity in the Tuscolano region, the 4th-century catacombs at the tenth mile of the ancient Via Latina, excavated in 1922-23 under the care of the monks and in 1918-19 by the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology.
ART. — The building is a work of Romanesque-Roman architecture, permeated by evident elements, among others in the external decoration with arch motifs, with Byzantine taste, as in the beautiful reliefs of the marble framing of the Porta Aurea. The interior, except for the structure, has undergone a complete transformation. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese built the wooden coffered ceiling (1575), and around 1610 Cardinal Odoardo Farnese completely transformed the Chapel of SS. Nilus and Bartholomew. But the most disastrous remodeling occurred in 1754, when Cardinal Guadagni enclosed the columns within pilasters and covered the ancient paintings with medallions and stucco ornaments. Finally, in 1843 Cardinal Matti attached the Latin church to the atrium. The bell tower, of the type of Romanesque bell towers, stands above a small chamber that may be that oratory of the 5th-6th centuries, remembered as the primitive nucleus of the Sanctuary; raised in the 12th century, it was radically restored in 1910-1913. Notable works are in the narthex: the baptismal urn with reliefs of fishing scenes (11th-12th centuries); the aforementioned Porta Aurea with wooden leaves (11th-12th centuries) and, on the tympanum, the mosaic with Christ enthroned, the Virgin, St. John, and an offering figure (Abbot Bartholomew), dated to the 11th century; inside, within the marble cathedra of Bernini’s school (1665), is the Madonna of Grottaferrata, a panel of rather late Byzantine forms (13th century). On the triumphal arch, the mosaic of the Pentecost in Byzantine style and iconography, probably executed by mosaicists from Venice at the beginning of the 13th century (Toesca). Above it, the fresco with the Trinity discovered under the coffered ceiling in 1904, together with the few remains of the Stories of Moses on the side walls (late 13th century). Finally, the Chapel of SS. Nilus and Bartholomew with frescoes of the lives of the two saints, executed by the young Domenico Zampieri (1610) and restored in 1819 by G. Candida under the guidance of V. Camuccini. On the altar, the Madonna between SS. Nilus and Bartholomew, a late work by Annibale Carracci.
The church of S. Maria, nucleus of the Abbey of S. Nilo, stands at the center of a powerful bastioned enclosure built on behalf of Giuliano della Rovere, commendatory abbot; it has been attributed to Bramante, but more probably to Sangallo or Baccio Pontell