Ora et Labora et Lege

Today a Benedictine monastic community of contemplative life lives in the monastery of San Ruggero.
Ours is a simple life made of "work, prayer and lectio" (Ora et labora et lege), in the continuous search for God, as the Rule of Saint Benedict exhorts us at the beginning of the prologue: "Listen, oh son, the precepts of the master and incline the ear of your heart”; and again in Chapter 48: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul, therefore the brothers, at certain times, must be occupied in manual work and at other certain hours in lectio divina”.

We are "contemplative" that means we have no external apostolate activities and we consider prayer of praise to God and intercession for all humanity as our main occupation, but we work in the serene awareness that work is not foreign to contemplation but, if experienced in the right way, it is an element of it.

Even though we also experience work as a means of livelihood, certainly not everything we do is economically profitable: for example, not all the dedication of the sisters employed in the sacristy, in the infirmary or in the kitchen is a source of income.

We work mainly so that our life is dignified and orderly and also to serve the ecclesial and city community, offering hospitality and safeguarding the relics and the bust of the Patron Saint Roger as well as the votive offerings that the people of Barletta have offered over the centuries to the Madonna dello Sterpeto, she is also Patron Saint of the City.


The cultural importance of the church is linked to the presence of the relics of San Ruggiero, bishop of Canne, moved to Barletta according to historical tradition in 1276, following some acts of vandalism and to keep the body of the Saint safe from thieves who in those times infested the citadel.

The origins 

The church and monastic complex of San Ruggero are located in Barletta, in via Cialdini: this road was once called ruga Carrotiarum, i.e. via delle Carrozze, an important connection route to Canne and Naples.
The first foundation of the structure that today houses the convent dates back to around 940; the building in fact dates back to the Byzantine period, and was originally built to house the execution court, or the headquarters of the Greek officers who were stationed in Barletta.
In 1071 the Normans conquered the city, with the consequential abandonment of the building, which was donated to the Church only a few years later.

The Benedictine nuns

The first certain documents relating to the monastic use of the structure date back to 1162: Benedictine nuns had in fact settled here, initially dedicating the church and monastery to Santo Stefano. The monastery played a role of particular importance during the Swabian and especially the Angevin ages, even giving the name of Santo Stefano to the neighborhood where it was located.
On 18 June 1276, following some acts of vandalism and to keep the body of the Saint safe from thieves, the mortal remains of Bishop Ruggiero, transported to Barletta by the inhabitants of Canne, his fellow citizens after yet another destruction of their city , were transported to this place. Over time, even the people of Barletta began to venerate the Holy Bishop of Canne to the point of proclaiming him as their patron saint and so the church and monastery were also dedicated to San Ruggiero.

Over time, the Benedictine community hosted numerous nuns belonging to the local patriciate, thus contributing to the growth of the monastery's heritage.
In 1709, however, the monastic complex was the site of a disastrous fire, during which precious testimonies of the history of the ancient building itself and its evolution over time were destroyed.
On 25 June 1811, in execution of the Murat royal decree of 1810, the monastery was suppressed; on 11 July of the same year the nuns were expropriated of their monastery which passed to the state property.
Two years later, the monastic complex passed to the Celestine Benedictine nuns of the Santissima Annunziata, who moved to these places following the municipality's decision to demolish the church of their original headquarters. However, with the decree of 17 February 1861 the monastery was suppressed again and reconstituted after a few years.

Modern days

28 October 1916, the abbess Maria Scolastica Lattanzio, thanks to her considerable paternal inheritance, purchased the monastic complex of S. Ruggiero, with an adjoining vegetable garden; a boarding school was then opened which, in 1953, was replaced by a nursery and primary school which remained in full operation until 2007. The Church is still owned by the FEC.
After the vocational flowering of the 40s/50s of the last century, the Celestine Monastic Community, having had only very few entries, with the beginning of the new millennium has progressively lost its autonomy of life and, despite the attempts of revitalization with the intervention of a congregation of Benedictine nuns from the Philippines and through the Federation of Celestine nuns, in 2015 it was possible to avoid the closure of the Monastery through a new foundation by the Benedictine Monastery of "Santa Maria delle Rose" of Sant'Angelo in Pontano (MC), in the diocese of Fermo.

On June 30, the first 5 sisters arrived to support the last 4 remaining sisters from the previous community and the following year another 3 arrived due to the earthquake that had made the monastery in the Marche unusable.
At this point the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, in agreement with the diocesan Bishop Monsignor Giovanni Battista Pichierri, decided to make the new Community autonomous by Canonically erecting the Benedictine Community of San Ruggero, thus allowing the election of a new Abbess and opening a new chapter in the centuries-old history of monastic life in Barletta.

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Life in the monastery

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In the heart of the city, custodians of the relics of the Patron Saint and heirs of an almost centuries-old Benedictine presence, we live seeking God and communion with everyone, in the Church, for the Church, with the Church.

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Monastero delle Benedettine "San Ruggero"
VIA ENRICO CIALDINI 94
76121 - Barletta (BT)

Laboratorio Culturale
VIA MURA DEL CARMINE 9
76121 - Barletta (BT)
0883 332366


E-mail: monasterosanruggero@gmail.com