In 1065, at the urging of Pope Nicholas II, a monastery was founded at Matina by Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria, and his wife, Sichelgaita.
On 31 March, by order of Nicholas' successor, Alexander II, the monastery was dedicated in a ceremony officiated by Archbishop Arnulf of Cosenza, with the bishops Odo of Rapolla and Lawrence of Malvito in attendance, before Robert and Sichelgaita and the first abbot, Abelard.
In 1660, Gregorio de Laude, abbot of Santa Maria del Sagittario, who had seen the now lost parchments of the foundation himself, described it thus:[1] Monasterium Matinae a Robert Nortmando Apuliae et Calabriae Duce, uxoreque sua Sirlegatta anno 1066 [sic] fundatum, tunc Nigrorum, modo Cisterciensium Monachorum Casamaris filiationis situm in Calabria, duobus dissitum milliariis a ... Sancti Marci Urbe.
In 1652, the monastery was finally suppressed by Pope Innocent X, but the commandery remained until the abolition of feudalism in 1809, during the reign of Joachim Murat, when the land became state property.
Among the best preserved parts are the parlour, the scriptorium, the staircase leading to the upper floors and chapel, and the Gothic chapter house, which has three naves with vaulted ceilings reminiscent of the abbey of Casamari.