Chiaravalle Abbey, Fiastra

The monks, from Chiaravalle Abbey in Milan, arrived on 29 November of the same year and immediately started work on the construction of the monastery.

The history of the abbey is recorded in the collection of 3,194 manuscripts known as the Carte Fiastrensi, now in the state archive of Rome.

In 1422 the abbey was sacked by Braccio da Montone, who destroyed the roof of the church and the tiburio (the high bell tower), and killed a number of the monks.

The last heir of the family, Sigismondo, left the area to the present Giustiniani-Bandini Foundation, who set up the Fiastra Abbey Nature Reserve in order to preserve this heritage.

The Reserve, opened on 18 June 1984, was officially recognized by the State on 10 December 1985, as being of national importance.

The most important elements of the abbey are arranged around the cloister, that is the heart of the monastery: here the monks would contemplate and meditate while walking, or sit under the arcade and study the Sacred Scriptures.

Here the abbots would read a chapter of St Benedict's Rule every day, hence the name, the most important decisions about the abbey were made and business was transacted.