There are many natural caves in Calabria. They where used by hermits since the first millenium.
They prayed and practised calligraphy offering their life and work to the Lord.
Personally, I think that copying manuscripts was a form of ruminatio of the Scriptures.
Some of them was proclaimed saint by the Catholic Church. Interactions between the bizantine and latin spirituality were quite strong in the middle ages.
Inside this cave, now, there is a statue of Our lady of the Star. I could not find documentation on why and what star, but it is really a place of the Spirit to be visited with respect.
