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This town lies about twenty-five kilometres south-east of Rome. Immediately to the south of the town rises Monte Cavo. Henry, Cardinal Duke of York (later King Henry IX and I) gave 500 scudi to the Passionist Fathers to build a monastery on the slopes of the mountain. On October 15, 1778, he laid the foundation stone and on September 26, 1784, he dedicated the new building. 1 This was formerly the site of the great temple of Jupiter Latiaris, the second most important shrine after the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. While later generations have condemned the destruction of the temple, at the time Henry was extolled for replacing it with a Christian church.
To the right of the entrance is the following inscription: 2
HENRICUS EPISC TUSCUL
IACOBI III REGIS F CARD DUX EBORAC
S R E VICECANCEL
AN M DCC LXXXIII
SODALIBUS A PASSIONE IESV
IUGUM ALBANI MONTIS
INCOLENTIBUS
IN VETERIS BENEVOLENTIAE PIGNVS
TEMPLUM VETVSTATE DILAPSVUM
MVNIFICENTIA SVA
A SOLO RESTITVENDUM CVRAVIT
To the left of the entrance is a second inscription: 3
HENRICUS EPISC TUSCUL
IACOBI III REGIS F CARD DUX EBORAC
S R E VICECANCEL
TEMPLVM
PRISCA SUPERTITIONE SUBLATA
NVMENI
VNI TRINOQ DICATVM
VI KALEN OCT AN M DCC LXXXIIII
INDVLGENTIA DE MORE CONCESSA
SOLEMNI RITV
CONSACRAVIT
In the old refectory there is another inscription which records a visit to the monastery by King Charles Emanuel IV of Sardinia (later King Charles IV) and his wife Queen Marie Clotilde, September 8, 1800.
After the unification of Italy and the confiscation of religious properties by the State, the Passionists left the monastery. In 1876 the convent became an observatory founded by the Jesuit astronomer Father Angelo Secchi (1818-1878); today it is a hotel and restaurant. 4
On December 3, 1788, King Henry consecrated a gold chalice for the parish church of Rocca di Papa. I do not know if the chalice survives. 5
Notes
1 Alberto Crielesi, "Monte Cavo ed i suoi Luoghi Sacri: Storia e Vicissitudini Durante i Secoli" (http://www.pcg.it/~glcr/4_97/moncav.htm).
2 [Footnotes to Alberto Crielesi, "Monte Cavo ed i suoi Luoghi Sacri: Storia e Vicissitudini Durante i Secoli"] (http://www.pcg.it/~glcr/4_97/moncav_fn.htm).
3 Ibid.
4 There is a restaurant named "La Foresta" in this area; it may be the same restaurant. "La Foresta" is closed Tuesdays and the month of May. (Telephone: 39.06.949.167).
5 Diario per l'Anno MDCCLXXVIII di Enrico Benedetto, Cardinale Duca di Yorck (London: Chiswick Press, 1876), 155.
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