Further Information

• Epigraph on the cloister side, in the centre, on the window

  The first abbess Febronia is credited with the erection (or raising) in 1152 of the tower that bears her name, as can be seen from the inscription on the lunette of the architrave of the single-light window on the first level: “+ Ab Incar(natione) D(omin)i – A(nno) M(illesimo) C(entesimo) Q(uinquagesimo) II (secondo) – Indic(tione) XV (quintadecima) – i(n) no(min)e D(omin)i F(ebron)i(a ) Ab(b)at(issa) fecit op(er)a ista”. The tower measures 8.25 x 8.25 meters at the base and consists of a room on the first level, covered by a brick cross vault, measuring 3.50 x 3.50 meters, accessed via a door on the north side. On the second level the tower measures 7.25 x 7.25 meters. It is delimited by a projecting stringcourse and consists of a room measuring 3.80 x 3.80 meters. It was accessed from the female monastery via a drawbridge or, much more likely, a step-ladder, designed to make the place inaccessible in case of danger. During the 2004-2007 restoration campaign, based on architect A. Verderosa’s design, a steel walkway was created, allowing safe access to the ancient refuge cell of the nuns.

• The Roman funerary mausoleum

  The tower has walls approximately 2 meters thick resting on a base of large, squared, and moulded stone blocks. The first level is built with reused Roman material (or, much more likely, preserved on site) from the funerary monument of Marco Paccio Marcello, son of Caio, of the Galeria tribe, the first centurion of the Legio IV Scythica, as read on one of the reused blocks, very likely originating from nearby Compsa. From a careful reading of the inscription and decorations on the stone blocks (about 110) of the funerary monument reused to build the tower, Coarelli first and then Schafer, although with different results, reconstructed the life and career of this Roman soldier. For his acts of valour, he reached the highest rank allowed by his modest social background, chief centurion of the first cohort, or primipilaris of the Legio IV Scythica, eventually becoming a municipal magistrate, as evidenced by the presence of the sella curulis (curule seat) flanked by a sculpted male head representing honor and a female head representing virtus, a clear reference to the honours received by the centurion for his virtues. An acanthus scroll, serving as a genealogical tree, ‘stemmed’, indicates the number of his children, six, and the use of the mound as the family tomb. Above the sella curulis is the symbol indicating the rank of ‘augur’, a large spiral, and that of ‘flamen’, the typical cap of a Roman priest. You can delve deeper into the historical details of the mausoleum by browsing the books in the ‘multimedia library’. ‘The unusual position of the Febronia tower, offset from the contemporary church, suggests the hypothesis of a pre-existence so significant symbolically or constructively that it induced the first builders of the monastery to disregard the alignment of the fortified redoubt with the adjacent religious structure.’ Luigi Guerriero in Napoli Nobilissima, vol. XXIX – Fasc. V-VI – set. dic. 1990; Arte Tipografica Napoli Epigraph on the cloister side, centre, lower part M. PACCIO G. F. GA. MARCELLO PRIMI PILARI LEG. IIII SCYTHICAE Epigraph on the cloister side, centre, on the window AB INCAR. D. A. M. C.Q.II IN DIC. X.V. – I. NOE D. F. ABAT OPA IS FEBRONIA ABBA