Abbazia San Salvatore, the church of the columns
The Benedictine complex that gives its name to the town of Abbadia San Salvatore, according to tradition, was founded in 743 by the Lombard duke Ratchis. Between the X and the XII the Abbey experienced its period of maximum splendor. In 1782 it was suppressed and reduced to a parish church.
The current appearance is the result of several restorations. The tall and narrow gabled façade is framed by two unfinished and the other embattled towers. The Latin cross interior preserves a beautiful polychromed wooden crucifix dating back to the 12th century.
We advise you to stay a few minutes inside the Abbey you will immediately notice the heady scent that surrounds everything. Incredible, perfumed incenses are lit in the Abbey as a gift and a request for prayer to God.
Your attention will no doubt be catalyzed by the wooden crucifix on the altar. During a restoration, carried out on the icon, a cavity was discovered in the back that preserved some mystical objects: a bag with the seal of San Benedetto containing the relics of San Fortunato and Pope S. Ponziano. Will this detail make the crucifix so special? Just stand there in front to feel at peace. As the diocesan Bishop Mons. Rodolfo Cetoloni said: “ In front of the icon it is enough to be silent, in contemplation … it is he who speaks to us “.
A brief visit to the Longobard crypt mentioned for the thirty-two columns and as many capitals of which twenty-five are original is a must.
Where: Via del Monastero, 53021, Abbadia San Salvatore.
Contacts: 0577 777352.
Abbey of San Salvatore | opening time
Winter from 8.00 to 19.00
Summer from 8.00 to 20.00
Museum of Sacred Art
In the east wing of the Abbey is the Museum of Sacred Art. Despite the serious losses suffered over time, the museum preserves important reliquaries such as the bust of San Marco Papa in gilded bronze and the Scotus-Irish reliquary of the 7th century.
In this Abbey, for almost a thousand years, the “ Codex Amiatinus “, or one of the oldest versions of the Bible by Sofronio Eusebio Girolamo, now kept in the Laurentian Library in Florence, was kept.
Museum of Sacred Art | opening time:
Saturday and Sunday 10.00 – 12.00 | 16.00 – 19.00
More information on the Abbey, the museum and its beautiful Crypt can be found on the page of Wikipedia.
