Valvisciolo Abbey is a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the

province of Latina The Province of Latina ( it, Provincia di Latina) is an area of local government at the level of province in the Republic of Italy. It is one of five provinces that form the region of Lazio. The provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bor ...

, central

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 re ...

, near the towns of

Sermoneta Sermoneta is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina (Lazio), central Italy. It is a walled hill town, with a 13th-century Romanesque cathedral called Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a massive castle, built by the Caetani f ...

and Ninfa. It is an example of rigorous Romanesque-

Cistercian architecture Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was heavily influenced by Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should ...

, considered a masterpiece of that style in central Italy second only to the nearby

Fossanova Abbey Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a church that was formerly a Cistercian abbey located near the railway-station of Priverno in Latina, Italy, about south-east of Rome. History Fossanova is one of the finest examples of early Burgundian ...

History

According to tradition, the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

was founded in the 8th century by Greek

Basilian monks Basilian monks are Roman Catholic monks who follow the rule of Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea (330–379). The term 'Basilian' is typically used only in the Catholic Church to distinguish Greek Catholic monks from other forms of monastic li ...

. Some sources state that it was established in 1145 by the monks of Cistercian order, by monks from the Abbey of Fossanova. Likely damaged during the 12th-century invasion of

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Un ...

,Raymondi, page 23. it was occupied and restored by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in the 13th century, who after the dissolution of their order were replaced first briefly by Augustinians, then again by the Cistercians in 1312-15. The abbey had some turnover in the early 17th-century, but ultimately remained Cistercian. The monastery was dissolved in 1807 but was re-settled in 1864 and is still extant. According to a medieval legend, when the Templar Grand Master

Jacques de Molay Jacques de Molay (; c. 1240–1250 – 11 or 18 March 1314), also spelled "Molai",Demurger, pp. 1-4. "So no conclusive decision can be reached, and we must stay in the realm of approximations, confining ourselves to placing Molay's date of birth ...

was burnt at the stake in 1314, the church's

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

s broke. The Templar influence can be still noticed today from several crosses with their characteristic shape, such as that in the

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

. During a restoration, a Templar

palindromic A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Pana ...

Sator Square The Sator Square (or the Rotas-Sator Square, or the Templar Magic Square) is a two-dimensional acrostic class of word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome. The earliest Sator squares were found at several Roman-era sites, all in ROT ...

was discovered on a wall: it is the only known variant in which the letters form five concentric rings, each one divided into five sectors. In 1411 the abbey passed into the hands of Paolo Caetani as

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

. In 1523

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

reduced it to the rank of a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

, and in 1529 it was further reduced to a secular priory. From 1600 or 1605 it was occupied by Cistercians of the

Congregation of the Feuillants The Feuillants were a Catholic congregation originating in the 1570s as a reform group within the Cistercians in its namesake Les Feuillants Abbey in France, which declared itself an independent order. In 1630 it separated into a French branch ...

until 1619. Between 1619 and 1635 the premises were used by the Minims of Saint

Francis of Paola Francis of Paola, O.M., (or: Francesco di Paola or Francis the Fire Handler; 27 March 1416 – 2 April 1507) was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims. Unlike the majority of founders of men's religiou ...

. The Feuillants then returned and remained there until the suppression of religious orders enforced by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

made two important visits to the abbey in 1863 and 1865, and by his order the community here was re-established, as a priory dependent upon the congregation of Casamari. The abbey continues until today to accommodate Cistercian monks of the same congregation.

Buildings

The interior of the church consists of a nave and two aisles divided by pilasters and columns. The walls are plain, according to the Cistercian taste. At the end of the north nave is the Chapel of

Saint Laurence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

, painted with

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es in the years 1586-89 by

Niccolò Circignani Niccolò Circignani (c. 1517/1524 – after 1596) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period. Biography Born in Pomarance, he is one of three Italian painters called Pomarancio. His first works are documented from th ...

, known as ''"il Pomarancio"'' on commission from Cardinal

Enrico Caetani Enrico Caetani (6 August 1550 – 13 December 1599) was an Italian cardinal. Early life He was born at Sermoneta, the second son of Bonifacio, lord of Sermoneta, and Caterina di Alberto Pio, daughter of the lord of Carpi. He was the nephew of Car ...

. Over the main entrance portal a

can be seen. 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 ...

, located to the right of the abbey and looking onto the

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

, has a brightly coloured garden. The abbey is situated in a small valley known by medieval tradition as the valley of the nightingale.

References

Sources

*Testa, Sonia, 2007: ''Abbazia di Valvisciolo'', "Vallis Lusciniae" Ars et Historia. Grafica 87, Pontinia 2007. {{Coord, 41, 34, 4, N, 12, 58, 52, E, source:itwiki_region:IT_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century Monasteries in Lazio Cistercian monasteries in Italy