The Monastery of Santa Scholastica stands at 510 m above sea level east of Subiaco (province of Rome), the only monastery of the 12 established by St. Benedict in the Subiaco valley to have survived earthquakes and Saracen destruction. Originally named the Monastery of St. Sylvester, it is a complex of buildings constructed in different styles at different times. An entrance, crowned with the inscription Ora et Labora (Pray and Work) and characterised by 20th century structures, leads to the first "Renaissance” cloister, dating to the 16th century. This leads onto the second “Gothic” cloister (14th century) and the third, known as the “Cosmatesque“ cloister (13th century). The bell tower dates to the 12th century and the present-day church, dating to the late 1700s, is the last of at least 5 churches that have been built here over the centuries.
The monastery saw its moment of greatest splendour between the 11th and 13th centuries. In 1465, two German clerics, A. Pannartz and C. Sweynheym set up the first printing press in Italy here which added incunabula and valuable volumes to the wealth of the existing library. Today the library is situated on the northern end of the Gothic cloister while the refectory stands on the western side of the Cosmatesque cloister, the dormitory was once above it.
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