Our Blog - Tuscany 2024 Trip - Abbey of Sant'Antimo near Montalcino, Italy

Just a little outside of the village of Montalcino is the Abbey of Saint'Antimo. Legend traces the foundation of the abbey to the 9th century, at the time of the Holy Roman Empire when emperor Charlemagne is believed to have founded a chapel here. When his court and army were hit by the plague while on Monte Amiata, the emperor asked for the healing and, when it was granted, he built the abbey to give thanks for this miracle. At the end of the 13th century, the assets of Sant'Antimo were decimated and the monastery was in a state of decline. To remedy this situation, Pope Nicholas IV entrusted the abbey to the Guglielmites, a reformed Benedictine order. Despite the papal intervention, Sant'Antimo lost its ancient splendor and, in 1461, Pope Pius II suppressed the abbey.

In the 15th century, the abbey was in a state of abandonment with many buildings in the cloister having collapsed and the stones taken to build houses in the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate. A restoration campaign in 1870 brought the church back to what we see today. They have a video-guide that you can rent and go around the church and grounds, which talks about the church and the history. We didn't rent the guide and just took a peek around.

The church from a distance, the back, showing the tower and apse, and then the very plain front (with Lucy).

They have a nice garden and another building, but I don't know what it is used for.

Then heading around the building, you can see the plain rectangular shape of the church. However, the side door has quite a bit of decoration which was in really nice shape.

Then on the very back, there were a couple carvings that seemed to be randomly placed along the walls.

Inside, it has a large open nave with side aisles separated by Romanesque arches sitting on columns. Some of the capitals were highly decorated and still in good shape, while others were pretty damaged. At the top of the 2-story nave is a wooden ceiling, similar to others we have seen in Tuscany. Throughout the church, you can see various frescoes

There is also a small crypt with another fresco.