Territorial Abbey of Montevergine

Territorial Abbey of Montevergine

Abbatia Territorialis Montisvirginis
Cathedral
Location
CountryItaly
Ecclesiastical provinceBenevento
Statistics
Area48 km2 (19 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2004)
16,000
15,800 (98.8%)
Information
RiteLatin Rite
Established12th Century
CathedralSantuario di S. Maria di Montevergine
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
AbbotRiccardo Luca Guariglia, O.S.B.
Website
www.santuariodimontevergine.com

The Territorial Abbey of Montevergine (Latin: Territorialis Abbatia Montisvirginis) is a Latin Church territorial abbey located in the commune of Montevergine in the ecclesiastical province of Benevento in Italy.

About 1120 William of Vercelli founded an abbey of eremitic inspiration dedicated to the Holy Virgin. It was consecrated in 1124 on Mons Sacer, so called because of the ruins of a temple of Cybele.[1] Catherine of Valois and her son, Louis I of Naples, are buried in the abbey. The new basilica, built in 1961, is home to a 13th-century Byzantine icon of a black Madonna.[2] In 1926 it was established as the Territorial Abbacy of Montevergine.

  1. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: "Monte Vergine"; the legend, told to an English traveler, was reported in Sketch Book of the South, (pub. Edward Churton) London, 1835.
  2. ^ Described in Sketch Book of the South, 1835.