San Michele Abbey, Montescaglioso, Italy

The Benedictine Territorial Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo has been existed at least from 1078 and was probably built in the 5th century. The benedictine Abbey Church (12th century), dedicated to St. Michael, has a notable portal and a Norman-style bell tower with mullioned windows. The Norman lord Humphrey of Hauteville and his son Rudolph made large donations to the abbey. In 1484, after joining the Benedictine Congregation of St. Giustina from Padua, the abbey was enlarged and restored in Renaissance forms.

Afterwards it decayed due to numerous wars ravaging the country in those years. Renewed starting from 1590, it received a cylindrical cupola in 1650. The monks abandoned the abbey in 1784.

User Reviews

mladen djordjiev (6 years ago)
Wonderful place to visit, the place has a long history and artifacts to prove it. The central garden is breathtaking, the upper floor have frescoes unlike any from other monasteries, and the tombs in the basement are very interesting.

Senan O Kiersey (6 years ago)
Parking outside

Graham Fielder (6 years ago)
Typically italian

Franca Fortunato (6 years ago)
Unforgettable ❤

Marica Jakobsson (7 years ago)
It's amazing how such beautiful monastery was so worshipped, that it was not seen as just a place for worship, but also a home & workplace.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

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San Michele Abbey

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