Fotos

Saint Nilo Abbey in Grottaferrata. Exarchic Abbey of St. Mary of Grottaferrata - was founded in the year 1004 by the saints Nilo and Bartholomew, fifty years before the schism between the catholic and the orthodox churches, on the remains of an ancient roman villa which is believed to have belonged to famous roman orator Cicerone.
The Abbey is now of Byzantine rite, under the authority of the Holy See. Abbot Nilo da Rossano, who came from the Byzantine Calabria, built the monastery in the same place were he had an apparition on the Holy Mary. Because he didn't see the works completed, since he died the year after his arrival in Grottaferrata, the task was, thus completed under the supervision of St. Bartholomew.
The façade, with its rose window, has being restored to its original shape. The façade also has small 'blind', gothic style, arches which decorate its sides.


The hallway, composed of travertine column, was restored in 1930, while the interior, originally in Romanic style, was turned into Baroque in 1754, by means of plaster covering which encases the frescoes and the columns. Remarkable it's the triumphal arch which separates the centre of the church from presbytery, decorated with medieval fresco representing the Pentecost.
A beautiful library, containing Greek and Latin books, its considered one of the most complete worldwide.