Pulcherada Abbey, Turin, Italy

The Church of Saint Mary of Pulcherada, most commonly known as Pulcherada Abbey, began to be built between the 6th and 8th century AD on what used to be a Roman encampment. The first section to be built was the apse, and the main building was completed between 1029 and 1031. The bell tower was built within the next 200 years, and was built to be disproportionally taller than the rest of the building, which suggests it might have had defense purposes. The abbey became a center around which a village would start to form and eventually grow to become what is now the comune of San Mauro Torinese.

Before the 17th century, the abbey took up the terrain of what are currently the city hall and the church. The abbey contained gardens, fields for cultivation, a mill, a bakery, and a variety of artisanal workshops. In 1665, because of decay, abbot Petrino Aghemio chose to demolish a large portion of the complex, greatly reducing the size of the abbey. In 1803, the few monks present moved to the nearby abbey of San Quintino di Spigno, and thus Pulcherada Abbey was officially closed down the same year by order of Pope Pius VII. Since then, the former abbey has been used exclusively as a church.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Stefano Cucchi (5 years ago)
Beautiful ancient Abbey of San Mauro which takes the ancient name of the village Pulchra Rada, which meant "beautiful bay, beautiful beach, beautiful harbor". In fact, this has always been a beautiful area and in the past it was also a tourist vacation spot. The current name San Mauro derives instead from the name of the abbot of the abbey who became a saint. And the two names Pulcherada and San Mauro have therefore exchanged ?

Joseph Martinico (6 years ago)
Superb church in San Mauro Torinese, just outside Turin.

Ladysant 63 (6 years ago)
I expected more. Badly kept inside and out with wild buildings around and attacked. On the whole, however, it has its own reason.

PierGiorgio Terzuolo (7 years ago)
Ancient Benedictine abbey, later a parish, with a Romanesque apse from the 8th century decorated with recently discovered and enhanced 11th century frescoes; interiors radically transformed in the Baroque period, not restored.

Ravi Teja Reddy Chinthala (8 years ago)
Great place to visit on a weekend, simple yet beautiful!!

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

Pulcherada Abbey

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater