Tiglieto Abbey (''Badia di Tiglieto'', also known as ''Santa Maria alla Croce de Civitacula'') is a monastery in Tiglieto,

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was the first Cistercian abbey to be founded in

,Cistercensi
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France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The abbey is located on the left bank of the brook known as the Orba, 382 metres above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

in the Province of Genoa, near the border of the Region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

History

The abbey, founded in 1120 at the instigation of Peter I of Tarentaise, was a daughter house of

La Ferté Abbey La Ferté Abbey (french: Abbaye de la Ferté; la, Firmitas) was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1113 in La Ferté-sur-Grosne in the present commune of Saint-Ambreuil, Saône-et-Loire, France, the first of the four great daughter-houses of Cîte ...

. The first abbot was probably Opizzone. It may have gained the name Tiglieto ( la, Teletum) after being given the estate of that name by the Margrave Anselm of Ponsone in 1131. Communities from Tiglieto settled Staffarda Abbey and Casanova Abbey as its daughter houses, both in the present Region of Piedmont. In 1205, Gerardo da Sesso was elected abbot. He became a cardinal in 1211. In 1442, through

Pope Eugenius IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

, Tiglieto became an abbey '' in commendam''. In 1648 it was turned into a family estate of the last commendatory abbot, Cardinal Raggio, and dissolved. In 1747 the area was occupied by the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

ns, who shortly afterwards were driven out by the Genoese. In 2000 Tiglieto was reoccupied by the Cistercians.

Buildings and precinct

The church is a primitive Romanesque brick

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

; the original side-chapels were removed in the 14th century to make way for a new east end. The nave was vaulted in the Baroque period, and a new

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

at the west end was added at the same time, as was a Baroque campanile. The conventual buildings are to the south of the church. The early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

chapter house in the east range has survived, with a square chapter room with nine bays from the early 13th century and symmetrical

triforium A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locat ...

windows looking onto the central courtyard and the site of the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

, no longer extant, with the dormitory with bricked-up windows in the upper storey, as have the sacristy, the ''Fraternei'' and to the south the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...

building, as well as the

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

s' block in the west, now converted for residential purposes. The entire precinct was renovated for the new community that took over the premises in 2000.

Notes

Sources

* Bedini. B.G., 1964: ''Breve prospetto delle abazie cisterciensi d’Italia'' (pp. 9–10). Casamari. *Schomann, H., 1982: ''Reclams Kunstführer Italien I.2'' (p. 411), Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun.

External links

Cistercensi della Certosa di Firenze: Cistercian information
* {{coord, 44, 31, 20, N, 08, 36, 13, E, type:landmark_region:IT_source:dewiki, display=title Cistercian monasteries in Italy Buildings and structures in Liguria 1120 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Italy Romanesque architecture in Liguria Tourist attractions in Liguria