Sant'Antimo is an ancient abbey inhabited for centuries by Benedectine monks and founded, according to legend, by the Emperor Charlemagne. The church, built in the 12th century, is considered one of the masterpieces of medieval architecture. The harmony of the architecture and the rifinement of the decorative elements are an expression of the “True Beauty”: Christ. Art is a hymn of the Lord. The walls of Sant'Antimo are not only a wonderful monument, but they become custodians and witnesses of the Benedectine monastic spirituality.
History
The legend traces the foundation of Sant'Antimo back to the 9th century, at the time of the Holy Roman Empire, led by the Emperor Charlemagne, believed to be the founder of a chapel, called the Carolingian Chapel, corresponding to the current sacristy.
Certainly the Abbey existed in the year 814 when the Emperor Ludovico il Pio, successor of Charlemagne, issues a diploma that enriches it with goods and privileges.
In the communal period, however, the abbey lost some of its possessions, including the Castle of Montalcino which, due to its strategic position, is one of the goals of the expansionist aims of the city of Siena in southern Tuscany. At the end of the 13th century the assests of Sant'Antimo were by now decimated and the monastery was in a state of decline. To heal this degraded situation, Pope Nicholas IV entrusted the abbey to the Guglielmiti, a reformed Benedectine order.
Despite the papal intervention, Sant'Antimo has lost its ancient splendor and, in 1461, Pope Pius II suppresses the abbey by incorporating it into the new Diocese of Montalcino and Pienza.
In the XVth century the abbey was in a state of neglect: many buildings in the cloister collapsed and the stones were reused in the construction of the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate. Only in 1870 began a long campaign of restorations led by the architect Giuseppe Partini, which brought the church back to its present appearance.
42.9996941766979 11.5154268393564

Sant'Antimo Abbey

Medieval masterpiece
Call
+39 0577 286300
mail
antimo@operalaboratori.com
route
Localita' S. Antimo 222, Castelnuovo dell'Abate
Web site
https://www.antimo.it

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