Sora (Sor), Abbey of
SORA (SOR), ABBEY OF
Benedictine foundation near the city of Sora, southeast of Rome, at the junction of the Liri and Fibreno Rivers, in the Diocese of Aquino, Pontecorvo, and Sora. The abbey was built on the traditional site of a Ciceronian villa by St. dominic of sora, a native of Foligno and a monk of monte cassino, at the request of the Lombard duke, Pietro di Rainerio, probably about 1011. Dominic became abbot and it was there that he died in 1031. The monastery failed to develop economically or spiritually, and in view of its rapid decline by 1222 Pope honorius iii placed it under the nearby Cistercian establishment of Casamari. The cistercians installed their own prior, and the ancient abbey was reduced to a simple dependency and followed the fate of its motherhouse. In the 19th century Ferdinand II of Bourbon, King of Naples, granted the revenues of the monastery to the Chapter of St. Peter's in the Vatican. Little remains of the original church consecrated by paschal ii in 1104; it was restored frequently, the last time in the 18th century. The body of its holy founder is still preserved in this church.
Bibliography: l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 2:3062. a. lauri, Il mio paese natio (Sora 1905).
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