Abbey of Casamari

Founded around the 11th century by the Benedictine monks, at the beginning of the 12th century Pontiff Innocent II introduced the Cistercians there; they reconstructed it integrally according to the canons of Cistercian architecture, and to them it had to have the same appearance that it does now.
The name, Casamari, according to some historians, derives from "Case di Mario" (House of Mario), and the location would coincide with the old Cereatae, where Caius Marius was born.
The Abbey is located in the town of Veroli, 8 km away, and is found along the SP. 214, called Via Mària.
It is a particularly representative example, both under the architectural aspect and under the organizational one, of Cistercian architecture, and it is in perfect working order. In fact, other than an interesting Museum-Picture Gallery, there is a boarding school with a very modern library, a pharmacy with annexed laboratory, a liquor distillery, and a print shop.
The Cistercians made Casamari very powerful and they made it a thriving cultural center that contributed to the diffusion of the Gothic-Burgundian forms of French origin in central Italy.
Upon arrival you initially see the Abbatial House; from the portico to beneath it across a railing you enter a large courtyard-garden in a slight ascent, terminated by a large flight of steps. At the top of this flight of steps dominates the church, preceded by a large colonnade with a central rounded arch and two side pointed arches, on which opens the majestic entry portal. The porch is risen above a complex system of concentric rounded arches that lean on a series of slender semi-columns and contain a tympanum in bas-relief. All is realized in the beautiful, clear, local stone and is perfectly conserved.
The inside, also entirely in stone, presents itself today as austerely plain, as the Cistercian rules provide for because the later decorations of the Baroque era were eliminated in the course of restoration. The nave and two aisles are the form of the Egyptian cross, the vaults are ribbed and all of the arches are pointed. The mirrored windows are in slabs of alabaster and rain a golden light over the inside, making the atmosphere very attractive.
By means of a door on the right aisle, you reach the cloister, with central well, surrounded by a wall that, only perforates by double lancet windows, makes the walk very shadowy; from this to the mighty capitular hall, its pointed cross vaults are supported by four elegant pillars poly-lobed in clear stone. From the Cloister you reach the Museum, on the opposite side there is access to the refectory, a long hall with two naves with pointed vaults which lean on short cylindrical columns.
In the Monastery you will also find the Pharamacy and liquor distillery, with a good assortment of medicinal products and liquors, digestives, various types of honey, etc.