• Introduction
• The village
• The walls
• The centre
• The Abbey

L'Abbadia Ardenghesca

Le Fonti

The Abbey "Ardenghesca"

The Abbey "Ardenghesca"

The Benedictine Abbey of San Lorenzo is hidden within dense woods in the deep valley of the fast-running Lanzo river. It has stood for over a thousand years but the ravages of time have taken their toll on the monastic complex and the abbey nave.

The foundation of the monastery dates back to 1070 and its history has strong links to the Ardengheschi family.

The monastery became one of the most important Benedictine centres in mid Tuscany and attained considerable economic and territorial power in the region.

With the later squandering of its assets, the Abby declined and was unified under Pope Eugene IV with the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Siena in 1440 and, as a result of the suppression of 1780, with the parish of Santa Maria in Montibus of Civitella.

Today the grounds are private property and some buildings have been turned into housing.

The decline of the building resulted in the destruction of the nave and today all that remains is a single small nave, but the façade is original and almost intact. Built in travertine marble it is an example of the pure Romanesque style. There is also a pronaos of which only two half columns with figured capitals remain. On one of these you can see two monstrous figures with only a single head

Along the unpaved road that leads to Civitella you can see the old village fountains, that were restored thirty years ago.