This is the first of a number of volumes describing the 1980-86 excavations at the early medieval Benedictine abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno in central Italy. This volume gives a general introduction to this important project, a description of the archaeological remains, and then detailed accounts of the excavation of the Carolingian Crypt Church, the “South Church’, the Refectory, the Garden Court and the Entrance Hall. Also included is a reappraisal of the cycle of paintings in the crypt in the light of the excavations.