Abbazia San Giusto al Pinone
The abbey is a remarkable religious building example from the Twelfth century. It was the seat of a small monastic community. The outer walls of the church testify to its long phase of construction. The arch of the portal and the mullioned window in green and white marble over the door were influenced by the Romanesque style from Prato and Pistoia. The crypt, which has undergone restructuring over time, is remarkable and only accessible from the outside. This abbey was of considerable importance in the medieval period since it was located on a primary route. A curious detail about the abbey is that during the winter season the bell, called “the Lost”, served the purpose of guiding pilgrims and travelers in distress.
Abbazia di San Martino in Campo
The imposing and elegant apse structure is on the fringes of a thick forest. In 1140 it was already mentioned as a Vallombrosan Monastery. Suggestive primitives depicted on pillars in cloister and the remaining traces of numerous frescoes that decorated the interior of the church. On the beautiful sandstone portal from the Fourteenth century, is set the emblem of Matteo Frescobaldi, then abbot of the monastery. In the sacristy there is a fresco of the Florentine school depicting an enthroned Virgin Mary.
Former Soffena Abbey
The Abbey of Soffena was built in the Eleventh century. It rises on the ruins of an ancient castle, of which only traces remain to these days. From 1090 began the work of transformation and the walls were all frescoed. At the end of the work the Pope Eugenius IV granted special sin indulgences to those who had visited the new Church of San Salvatore in Soffera. In the early Eighteenth century the Abbey was adapted to the style of the time. All the frescos were whitewashed and replaced with altars and stuccoes in Baroque style. When Leopold in 1779 redistributed many holdings of the Vatican to the people, the building was sold to private individuals who devoted it to various uses. The Abbey was soon reduced in a state of abandonment that lasted until it was acquired by the Italian government, and it underwent a restoration that began in 1960 and was concluded in 1968. The whole building was interested in the restoration, which have also recovered the original and important cycles of frescoes found under the Baroque stuccoes.
The former Abbey is a monument open to visitors. It contains important frescoes from the late Gothic and early Renaissance. After the visit inside the church, a side door leads to the elegant cloister renewed in all its parts.
The map to ind the Abbeys near Prato and Arezzo:
View Abandoned Abbeys near Prato and Arezzo in a larger map
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