Grottaferrata Abbey

Bernini's iconostasis for the high altar of the basilica-church of the Exarchic Greek Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata.

Founded in the Alban Hills near Rome by St Nilius of Rossano in 1004, Grottaferrata is the sole survivor of the once-numerous Italo-Byzantine monasteries which remained in communion with Rome after the east-west schism and flourished throughout central and southern Italy, and Sicily, during the middle ages . The monastic liturgy preserves the oldest form of the Byzantine Rite still in use by either Catholics or Orthodox. In 1937 the abbot of Grottaferrata was raised to the status of territorial abbot and exarch, and the monastery was removed from the jurisdiction of the local Latin bishop and joined to the Italo-Albanian Byzantine Church.

The church was consecrated in 1024 by Pope John XIX and contains architectural elements of its original Italo-Byzantine style, Romanesque, Roman Cosmatesque, Renaissance and early baroque elements, including the iconostasis and altar by Bernini and frescos by Domenichino and Carracci. The massive fortifications were built by Cardinal Giulio della Rovere (later Pope Julius II), and the library was the gift of the famous humanist Byzantine Cardinal Bessarion. Pope Benedict IX is buried here.