Imposing Benedictine Abbey, built before the year one thousand. During the XI Century it reached the maximum of its power, based on a huge land property and on the management of 40 Parishes.
During the XIII Century, the church and the cloister were rebuilt, from here you reach the ancient crypt, the frescoed Sala del Capitolo and a cellar, probably from the original church.
The church, with a single nave with cross shaped vaults, following the model of the superior Franciscan Basilica in Assisi, still shows paintings by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo and Bartolomeo Caporali. More ancient paintings, by Maestro di Montelabate and Meo da Siena, are today exposed at the Galleria Nazionale of Umbria.
From the XV Century the Abbey lost its autonomy and was held by the “abati accomandatari”, in accordance to the will of the Pope. Around the second half of the XVII Century the Cardinal Filippo Monti placed there the “cistercensi” (Cistercian) , giving the abbey a new life. In 1860, following the unification of Italy, they were driven out and the Abbey was sold to the Marquis Medici, who transformed it in villa and farm.
In 1959, it was bought by senator Gaslini and is still today owned by the Fondazione Gaslini of Genova.