Abbey of Santa Maria a Mare

According to Cardinal Leo Marsicanus, the 11th-century historian of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, a monk of Monte Cassino named Monecaus served as provost in a "cell" (cella) dedicated to Saint James in the Tremiti Islands during the abbacy of Bertharius (856–83).

Leo reports that in his day many charters from the time of Monecaus were still in the archives of Monte Cassino.

[2] Originally the abbey was dedicated to James the Greater and its associated with the Virgin Mary developed gradually in the early 11th century.

The earliest document referring to the abbey on San Nicola is a record of a land-grant of Bishop Landenulf of Lucera dated to November 1005.

[2] Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino, supported by Duke Robert Guiscard of Apulia, tried to enforce his abbey's old rights over Santa Maria, but in a dramatic series of events in 1071–73 was forced to back down.

The ruins of the monastery dominate the island of San Nicola. They form a monument to the Adriatic Early Romanesque style, which integrated the Western European tradition with those of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. [ 1 ]
Courtyard of the ruined monastery