San Benedetto church, basilica since 1966, was built in the late 14th century.

It was constructed on the site of an early oratory that had been occupying a Roman building dating back to the 1st century.  As far back as the 9th century it is believed that this building was the residence of the noble descendants of the siblings, Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica. The S. Eutizio di Preci Abbey presided over the church together with the attached monastery. The Madonna and Child sit between two adoring angels above the gothic columned doorway. Benedict and Scholastica sit in two niches one the left and one on the right of this doorway. The evangelists surround the large rose window.

The floor plan is a Latin cross with a single nave and a transept. The apse is noteworthy, with its wooden crucifix dating back to the early 16th century. In the left wing of the transept there is a large canvas painted by Filippo Napoletano, dated 1621. It depicts Saint Benedict meeting Totila, king of the Goths. Gregory the Great recounts the story that Totila tried unsuccessfully to trick Saint Benedict by sending him a pageboy dressed in royal attire. Terrified by the saint’s second sight, the king presented himself humbly before Benedict, who chastised him for the crimes he had committed and predicted the date of his death.

In the right wing of the transept there is a 17th century canvas depicting the Madonna and Child between Saint Spes and Saint Eutizio, founders of monastic life in Norcia, and Saint Scholastica with a white dove at her feet. The great miracles of Saint Benedict are depicted in a series of tondo paintings.

In the crypt there is a small apse decorated with 14th century frescoes depicting the place where Benedict and Scholastica, the "fratres gemini", are said to have been born.

A smaller version of the slender gothic spire was built after the original spire was damaged during the terrible earthquake of 1703, which also damaged the S. Maria Argentea spire.

Around 1570, the Portico delle Misure (Colonnade of Measures) was built outside, along the right hand side of the church. The grain market was held there and the sample measures for the cereals on sale were placed here, having previously been in the custody of the Palazzo del Podestà.

Beyond the city walls of Norcia, the great, vast, fertile plain of Saint Scholastica stretches out around the town, set between the Apennine Mountains.