MONTE OLIVETO ABBEY-BUONCONVENTO EXCURSION

Founded in 1319, the Abbey dominates the “crete senesi” landscape. It represents one of the most important religious monuments in Tuscany, both for its historical weight and for its artistic masterpieces.
 
The monastery became an important cultural centre, after Pope Clemente VI approved the Monte Oliveto Fraternity in 1344. Its monastic library holds around 4.000 volumes, manuscripts and parchments. Its pharmacy hosts a beautiful collection of 17th-century vases, containing the herbal remedies still used by the monks to produce digestives, liqueurs and herbal concoctions (available for purchase by visitors!). One of the primary historical functions of the Abbey was a medical clinic. Many pilgrims and wanderers sought shelter, comfort and medical care at the Abbey, as it sits along the old pilgrim road Via Francigena.
 
The largest of three cloisters hosts frescoes — created by Luca Signorelli and Antonio Bazzi — depicting Saint Benedict’s life in 36 scenes.

The charming medieval town of Buonconvento boasts well-preserved brick walls, turrets and ramparts built by Siena in 1371. Along the rectangular walls, the Ethnographic Museum of Sharecropping shares the history of sharecroppers and rural civilization.

« go back to all Excursions