After the visit and Holy Mass in the Basilica of Loreto, is advisable to visit the Fiastra Abbey in Macerata. The recommended way is to take the SP77 toward Tolentino-Macerata. Arrived to Macerata take Via Roma toward Tolentino, go straight and stay on main road. In 10 minutes you arrive at the Abbey of Fiastra that will stay on your right. It takes 1 hour. Have a nice trip!
The Fiastra Abbey
This extraordinary abbey was built starting from 29 November 1142 at the initiative of a group of Cistercian monks from the Abbey of Clairvaux in Milan. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Chiaravalle in Fiastra. This is a monumental building dating from the period of transition between the Romanesque and Gothic. In the facade there is a large rose window which is formed by twelve radial columns with a gray marble portal, ending in a rounded arch. The interior is in Latin cross with three naves divided into eight bays. A fascinating series of frescoes enriches the presbytery and dating back to fifteenth century. In mid-wall of the right aisle there is a Madonna and Child between St. Nicholas from Bari and San Sebastiano, dated 1539. The Presbytery, under the rose window, overlooking a Crucifixion fresco by Giovanni Boiccati of 1473: at the foot of the Cross, the Virgin showing the Christ, Mary Magdalene embraces the Cross and St. John with folded hands; on the sides there are two niches with St. Benedict and St. Bernard. The cloister, nucleus of the Abbey, was built according to models Cistercians as a big square (XV century) of 37 meters on each side, with segmental arches. Monumental is the refectory, the most important places of the complex with the Chapter Hall. In the Hall of oil cruets is preserved in large jugs the genuine oil produced by the Abbey.Here is a museum, where we find archaeological remains found in the nearby Roman town of Urbs Salvia, and also a permanent exhibition about the abbey in the Marche. On the square in front of the abbey stands the ancient Hospitium a guesthouse where they welcomed the travelers and pilgrims. In 1974, the Marquis Alessandro Giustiniani-Bandini made it a foundation recognized as a charity. In 1984, three monks, coming from the Abbey of Chiaravalle Milanese, settled there and start again, after 361 years, the life of prayer and work. In the same year the Foundation and the Marche region gave birth to the Nature Reserve Abbey Fiastra.
Fiastra Abbay
Discover the beauty of our Region!