An English landmark in Rome : San Gregorio Magno

On Saturday 10th March Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit the Monastery of San Gregorio al Celio to take part in Vespers together with the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

The occasion coincides with celebrations in this Camaldolese monastery to mark the founding of their Order on 1012 .

A monastery located on the Caelian hill where since the Second Vatican Council strong ties with Canterbury and the Anglican Communion have developed.

A tradition of ties with England that began here centuries earlier with Gregory the Great who at the end of the sixth century dispatched from here Saint Augustine on a mission to convert its people.

Also on this site, there exists another lesser known English landmark: the tomb of Sir Edward Carne. Sir Edward is worthy of note for having been sent here a couple of times between 1529 and 1533 by King Henry VIII in an effort to obtain papal approval to the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

Attached to the monastery and rising on top of an elegant flight of steps, there now stands the Roman Church of San Gregorio Magno , dedicated to Gregory the Great by a later Pope , Gregory II.

Today with the exception of the cosmatesque pavement and some ancient columns, the Church is an example of baroque splendour.

But hidden away in the far right hand corner is a chapel believed to have been Gregory the Great's cell in which you can still admire the stone where he slept. Also housed there is his imposing marble throne.

Join Veronica Scarisbrick in this Church as she visits with Professor of Fine Arts Breda Ennis.

Listen: