When you travel through Tuscany, you will notice a number of ancient abbeys, clusters of buildings occupied by a community of monks or nuns, some still in use. They’re often found in places of mystical beauty and quiet, and are definitely worth a stop as you drive through the Tuscan countryside.
Here are four abbeys we love.
In the province of Siena, the Abbey of Saint Galgano was a Cistercian Monastery built in the 13th century, famous for the sword in the rock said to have been planted by Galgano himself.
Not far from Saint Galgano is the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, founded in 1313, is a Benedictine monastery in the heart of the Crete Senesi (Senese clays), with frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Il Sodoma, considered masterworks of the Italian Renaissance.
The Abbey of Saint Antimo, currently occupied by monks of the Olivetan Benedictine order, is near Montalcino and the Via Francigena, among vineyards, olive groves and rolling hills.
Set deep in the Apennines, surrounded by forests of beech and firs about 30 km south-east of Florence, the Benedictine Abbey of Vallombrosa was founded in 1028 by a young Florentine noble and later became the mother house of the Vallumbrosan Order.
