The Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno

The crypt of Epiphanius with ninth-century frescoes

At the sources of the Volturno river, in the upper valley at the foot of the Mainarde mountains, in the province of Isernia, lies one of the most important monasteries of early medieval Europe: the Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno, founded at the beginning of the eighth century by three noble monks from Benevento. Under the protection of the Lombard dukes and then of the Carolingian emperors, it became in the ninth century a great monastic city, with hundreds of monks, churches, workshops, cloisters and a basilica among the largest of its time, a centre of culture, art and power comparable to Montecassino. In 881, it was sacked and burned by the Saracens, who killed many monks; rebuilt, it never regained its former splendour, and in the twelfth century the community moved to the other side of the river.

The excavations have brought to light the extensive remains of the early medieval monastery, with the foundations of churches, workshops for glass, metal and ivory, and refectories, which can be visited along an archaeological path. The greatest treasure is the Cripta di Epifanio, a small underground chapel decorated with a cycle of frescoes painted between 824 and 842, at the time of the abbot Epiphanius, depicting the Crucifixion, the Annunciation, the Nativity, the martyrdom of Saints Lawrence and Stephen and the portrait of the abbot himself with a square halo, a sign that he was still alive; these frescoes are among the most important examples of Carolingian painting in Europe. Today, the abbey, rebuilt, is inhabited by a community of Benedictine nuns.

Tip: book the visit to the crypt, which is opened only with a guide; walk along the river to the springs of the Volturno.

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