An important Benedictine monastery in Central Italy, founded early in the 8th century and probably at its largest in the 9th century. San Vincenzo was sacked by Arabs in 881 and the monastery was abandoned. The site was later reoccupied on a smaller scale, and eventually the monastery was taken over by Monte Cassino, 40 km away. A visitor to the site will find the reconstructed abbey of San Vincenzo — rebuilt in a neo-romanesque style — on one side of the River Volturno. On the west side of the river there is a small church with a painted crypt; the paintings are 9th century, and blend Byzantine and Roman styles. Next to this church is another with an altar still in place. To the south runs the main body of the monastery with, it is assumed, a range of rooms like those exposed next to the second church. The site appears to overlie a late Roman complex, and the remains of part of this complex may be seen behind the churches. Further up the hill behind the monastery is a large cemetery of late Roman (Byzantine) and early medieval date. The remains show this to be an unusual plan for an early medieval monastery, and it is also evident that it was a particularly large complex by the 9th century.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied