Churches & Places of Worship

The Church of of Our Lady of the Assumption - Santa Maria Assunta was the first of Gerano church built in the ninth century with the 'Castrum' where people had taken refuge to escape the Barbarians.

It was in the Gothic style and had a separate bell tower. From a story by the Bishop of Tivoli in 1581 it states that the church was a small square building with wooden roof and no floor.

In 1625 and 1675 the church was burned, and in the seventeenth century a first upgrade was completed and in 1850 the current neoclassical building designed by the architect G. Valadier, was built.

The majestic church houses some masterpieces of painting including a painting of the Madonna of the Rosary and a silver reliquary of the school of Bernini.

The most important part is an oil painting on canvas of Madonna del Cuore (Our Lady of the Heart) from 1727 by Sebastiano Conca from Gaeta.

This is considered miraculous, and in her honour every year from 1770 an incredible Flower Festival has been created along the streets of the town, the oldest flower festival in Italy.
 

Church of St Anatolia

The Church of St Anatolia in Gerano was originally a 'Curtis Dominica' in the VI century, constructed over a pagan sanctuary, testified by tombs of the second century BC, and became the church and religious centre around the tenth century.

The church underwent a major renovation in the XVI century and in its interior a series of frescoes was produced that tell the story of the saint.

Since the fifth century in this area breeding fairs were organised and products of the earth were important and this tradition has remained.

Anatolia is the patron saint of the gypsies and her festival attracts numerous Gypsy communities to Gerano from all over Italy.

The sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace is located in Guarcino along the ancient road that connected the monastery of Subiaco to Montecassino.

it is a path that was crossed by St. Benedict.

During the 1700s a Benedictine monk came to this area and decided to create a painting in a rock niche that ran along a Roman road.

The niche was made close to a rocky wall and today is the altar of the small church.

The fresco depicts the Virgin with the Child Jesus in her arms in blessing, while behind them is St. Joseph with a lily in hand.

The monastery of the Augustinian Sisters in Guarcino dates back to 1800 and was founded by the Franciscans.

Today it is governed by the Augustinian Sisters and is a retreat and meditation centre for those who want to get away and live in the peace of the mountains in a spiritual place with a special atmosphere.

Inside, there is woodwork in cherry wood and a walnut choir and sacristy and some good nineteenth-century paintings.

In the mountains around Guarcino, hidden in the flourishing nature, are hermitages including the hermitage of Sant'Agnello.

Here the saint lived for seven years in the cave, and became the patron saint of the town.

The monk Sant'Agnello was born in Naples in 535 of a Neapolitan family with rich Syracusan origins, possibly related to Saint Lucia.

The hermitage is open to visitors and has the oldest frescoes of Gothic era.

It is a destination of walks and retreats.

It's a great vantage point looking over the Cosa river valley.

The crypt of St. Benedict is in the basement rooms of a home in Guarcino and has direct access from an alley in the village centre not far from the gate. 

It is a unique environment covered by cross vaults with a marble column in the centre.

The ceiling and part of the walls were frescoed at the end of the twentieth century, while on the walls there are two ceramic paintings by the artist Diotallevi reproducing St. Benedict and the Madonna of Loreto.

On his way between Norcia, Subiaco and Cassino, Saint Benedict also stopped at Guarcino and gave his name to an entrance gate to the village and the road that crosses it.

In front of the gate was also a church dedicated to St. Benedict.

Over the years the cult of the saint was lost, probably after the great plague that decimated the population, and the little church was transformed into a home.

The crypt was beautifully rebuilt in 1980 for the 1500th anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict in 480.

The monastery of St. Luke in Guarcino seems to have been founded by St. Benedict between 520 and 528 AD and a part of the building overlooks the river.

In the courtyard there is a spring, from which flows the water of San Luca.

The church has a single nave and has the characteristics of medieval religious buildings.

In 1256 the monastery was assigned to the Benedictine nuns until 1587 when they moved into town due to scandals.

The monastery was looted during the passage of the Napoleonic troops after the French Revolution and it was sold it to private interests.

Today the building is run by the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Divine Love and is a retreat centre for those who want to get away and live in the peace of the mountains in a spiritual place with a special atmosphere.

The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Neve (Our Lady of the Snows) was entirely rebuilt after the last war, after the bombing of the road to Subiaco.

Only the image of the Virgin of the Snows, that by tradition is attributed to the school of Giotto, was miraculously saved.