Discover Abbey of Sant'Antimo

The Abbey of Sant'Antimo is a former Benedictine monastery at Castelnuovo dell'Abate, in the comune of Montalcino. It stands about 10 km from Montalcino and some 9 km from the Via Francigena, the pilgrim road to Rome, with the Starcia, a tributary of the Orcia, running nearby.

Its origins are obscure. Archaeology on the site is incomplete but has produced Late Classical material, and the earliest document connected with the abbey is a land grant of Louis the Pious dated December 813, now in the Archivio di Stato of Siena. The abbot received full temporal powers in an imperial document of about 952.

Following a bequest from Bernardo degli Ardengheschi, construction of the present church began before 1118 — a date inscribed on the altar step and on a column beside it. Parts of the earlier building survive in the crypt and in the Cappella Carolingia.

This was the abbey's period of greatest power: authority over 38 churches from Pisa to Grosseto and control of about 1,000 farm estates across Tuscany, with the castle of Montalcino as its most important possession and the abbot's residence.

After centuries of decline it was being used as a stable in the 19th century. The Italian state restored it in the 1870s, and it became a living monastery again in 1992. Since January 2016 the community is of Olivetan Benedictine monks.

Sant'Antimo is the most architecturally important building in this part of Tuscany, and the reason is a plan borrowed from France.

The French ambulatory

The east end carries an ambulatory with radial chapels — a curved aisle running behind the high altar with chapels opening off it — and the scheme is typically French in inspiration. In Italy it is known in only four other buildings: Santa Trinità at Venosa, the cathedrals of Acerenza and Aversa, all three in the south, and Santa Maria di Piè di Chienti in the Marche.

Its purpose was practical. The ambulatory housed the pilgrims, letting them circulate to pray at the Martyrium, where the saint's relics are placed, without crossing the monks' choir — the standard solution on the French pilgrimage roads, and here, 9 km off the Via Francigena, the reason it was worth copying.

The elevation

The nave is about 20 metres high and divided into three sections: the huge arcades, the matronaeum, and the chiaropiano above. The nave is roofed with trusses while the aisles and ambulatory are groin vaulted — a deliberate division, since vaulting the aisles stiffens the structure that carries the upper nave while open timber over the nave keeps the weight and the thrust down.

The alabaster

The outer walls are made of alabaster, and the stone is translucent: a light held against them is passed back through. Alabaster is a soft, workable stone, normally carved into objects rather than quarried for masonry, and a church built of it is a statement about what the abbey could command.

The carving

The capital of Daniel in the lions' den is the piece to find, and it is by the French Master of Cabestany — another direct French connection. It shows Daniel praying between the hungry lions on one face and, on the other sides, the lions devouring his accusers.

The Carolingian portal is richly decorated with animal and vegetable motifs, and the Sala Capitolare has a triple mullioned window with richly decorated capitals.

What survives of the earlier church

Two pieces: the apse, now the Cappella Carolingia, frescoed by Giovanni d'Asciano with stories of St Benedict and serving today as the sacristy; and the crypt beneath it, with a nave and two aisles on four columns.

Two churches stand on this site, one inside the other, and the later one was built in a borrowed foreign idiom.

The earlier building

The origins are obscure and the archaeology incomplete, though the site has yielded Late Classical material. The original Benedictine monastery is dated to the time of Charlemagne, with the usual caution: the accounts of Charlemagne founding it are without direct historical foundation and first appear in a document of Henry III from 1051. What is documented is a land grant of Louis the Pious of December 813.

Parts of that earlier structure survive, and they are identifiable: the apse — the Cappella Carolingia — and the richly carved portal, plus fabric in the crypt.

The present church, begun before 1118

The rebuilding followed a bequest from Bernardo degli Ardengheschi, and the date is cut into the altar step and a column beside it — a building that records its own start date on its furniture.

Crucially, the new church was not an enlargement of the old one in the old manner. It was given a French ambulatory with radial chapels, which means the builders went outside the Italian repertoire entirely for the part of the plan that mattered most to a pilgrimage church. That the abbey could reach for a French model, afford alabaster masonry, and employ the Master of Cabestany tells you what its revenues were: 38 churches and about 1,000 farm estates.

Losing the town, 1145 to 1212

Not fabric, but the reason the fabric stopped growing. Siena, blocked northward by Florence, turned on the abbey: Radicofani ceded in 1145, the pieve of Montalcino put under the bishop of Siena in 1189, Montalcino attacked and partly destroyed by Filippo Malavolti in 1200, and in 1212 a quarter of the abbey's territories handed to Siena — including Montalcino itself, its most important possession and the abbot's residence.

Decay to a stable

The 1291 union with the Guglielmites was meant to restore it. It did not last: after further decline in the 15th century Pius II annexed it to the new diocese of Montalcino-Pienza in 1462, and by the 19th century the building was being used as a stable. A Romanesque abbey church with an almost-unique ambulatory, housing livestock.

Restoration and reoccupation

The Italian state restored it in the 1870s. It became a working monastery again in 1992 with Premonstratensian Canons Regular, and since January 2016 the community has been Olivetan Benedictine.

What makes this abbey architecturally important?

Its ambulatory with radial chapels. The scheme is typically French and in Italy is known in only four other buildings — Santa Trinità at Venosa, the cathedrals of Acerenza and Aversa and Santa Maria di Piè di Chienti. It was built so pilgrims could circulate to the Martyrium, where the saint's relics are kept, without crossing the monks' choir.

Are the walls really translucent?

Yes. The outer walls are made of alabaster, and you can shine a light against them and see it pass back through the stone. It is the most surprising thing about the building and it is best tried in good daylight.

What should I look for inside?

Three things. The ambulatory behind the altar. The capital of Daniel in the lions' den by the French Master of Cabestany — Daniel praying between the lions on one face, the lions devouring his accusers on the others. And the Cappella Carolingia, the apse of the earlier church, frescoed by Giovanni d'Asciano with stories of St Benedict, with the four-columned crypt beneath it.

Did Charlemagne found it?

Probably not, and the honest answer is worth having. The foundation is traditionally dated to the time of Charlemagne, but the accounts of him founding the abbey are without direct historical foundation: they first appear in a document of the emperor Henry III from 1051, over two centuries later. What is documented is a land grant of Louis the Pious of December 813.

When can I hear the sung offices?

No timetable is published anywhere we can verify — not on the abbey's own site, not on its events page, not by the municipality — so this page gives none. Confirm before you drive out, because this is the commonest reason for a wasted trip here. The Comune di Montalcino switchboard is 0577 80441.

How do I get there, and how far is it?

It is at Castelnuovo dell'Abate, roughly 10 km from Montalcino and about 9 km from the Via Francigena. There is no visitor-usable public transport, so you need a car or a hired driver — worth settling before a day of cellar visits, not after.

Which came first, the abbey or the town?

The abbey, decisively. At its height it had authority over 38 churches from Pisa to Grosseto and about 1,000 farm estates, and its most important possession was the castle of Montalcino, which was the abbot's residence. Siena took it away: Montalcino was attacked and partly destroyed in 1200 and handed over under the agreement of 1212.

Is it still a monastery?

Yes. After long disuse it was reoccupied in 1992 by Premonstratensian Canons Regular, and since January 2016 the community has been of Olivetan Benedictine monks. In the 19th century the building had decayed so far that it was used as a stable, before the Italian state restored it in the 1870s.