The Basilica of Sant’Elia is adorned with some of the most beautiful frescoes in any Romanesque church in the Lazio region of Italy. It is located at the foot of the town of Castel Sant’Elia in the deep Suppentonia valley. Tradition has it that early Christian anchorites and later Benedectine monks chose the location because of its pagan history: there was once a temple to Diana (dedicated by Nero) at this site, and before that and an Etruscan temple to Picus Martius. An early monastery was founded by Anastasius in…
