Viboldone Abbey

Viboldone, Italy

The Abbey of Viboldone was founded in 1176 and completed in 1348 by the Humiliati, an order of monks, nuns and lay people who worked in the abbey producing wool cloths and cultivated the nearby fields with innovative techniques.

After the suppression of the Humiliati by Pope Pius V (1571), the abbey went to the Olivetan Benedictines, who were forced to leave the abbey in 1773, when Lombardy fell in Austrian hands. After several years of abandonment, the abbey is currently home to the Community of Madre Margherita Marchi (Benedictine nuns) since 1941.

The façade (finished in 1348) is hut-shaped, with mullioned windows and visible brickwork with white stone decorations, and divided into three sectors by two semi-columns. The entrance portal is in white marble, and is surmounted by a lunette with marble sculptures of the 'Madonna with Child between the Saints Ambrose and John of Meda'. At its sides, two Gothic niches houses statues of the Sts. Peter and Paul. The door is in dark wood, and dates to the 14th century.

The bell tower has an appearance similar to that of the façade, with frames in cotto and small arcades at the bases of the double and triple mullioned windows. The latter are surmounted by small circular windows.

The interior is rather sober, with few decorations, aside from the extensive fresco decoration of the Giottesque school. It has a rectangular hall plan, with a nave and two aisles with five spans each (the first ones in Romanesque style, while the remaining ones are Gothic with cotto columns and high cross vaults). The arches are ogival.

The fresco decoration includes the Madonna in Maestà with Saints and the large Universal Judgement with, in the middle, Jesus and at his left the Damned, overlook by Satan. Other frescoes, depicting Renaissance musical instruments, are housed in the Music Hall, located in a building annexed to the church.

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Address

Via Folli 5, Viboldone, Italy
See all sites in Viboldone

Details

Founded: 1176
Category: Religious sites in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Nicola Valietti (10 months ago)
Luogo meraviglioso ben conservato e poco contaminato dalla modernità anche nelle vicinanze
Lorenzo Laffranchi (10 months ago)
Un luogo che non ti aspetti in mezzo a un oasi di campagna a due passi da Milano. Un gioiello romanico-gotico che si è conservato benissimo anche in relazione al paesaggio circostante (solo in lontananza si vede l'A1 a ricordare il ritorno alla vita frenetica di tutti i giorni). Consigliatissima per una gita fuori porta anche di mezza giornata. N.B. ANCHE IN BICI, partendo da Chiaravalle
Fulvio Scian (12 months ago)
La visita all'Abbazia si riduce alla visita di una chiesa. In loco le informazioni turistiche sono pressochè inesistenti. Il borgo è strepitoso nella sua triste fatiscenza, e rovinato da rifiuti abbamdonati qua e la sulle rogge. Pressochè sconosciuto a molti, promozione ridotta. Un vero peccato!
Julius Forthy (13 months ago)
Abbazia benedettina di Viboldone, frazione di San Giuliano Milanese. Gotico-romanica. Dipinti e affreschi del dodicesimo e tredicesimo secolo. Costruzione medievale iniziata nel 1176 e completata nel 14° secolo. Ordine religioso benedettino di monaci e monache. Abbandonata al tempo degli austriaci e riattivata negli anni 40 del ventesimo secolo. Bello, suggestivo e caratteristico.
Gianmario Sartirana (14 months ago)
Bella l'abbazia inserita in un borgo storico molto piacevole. Molto bello l'interno con affreschi e il soffitto ad archi a sesto acuto il tutto decorato da artisti tardo rinascimentali lombardi. I campi intorno rendono l'insieme molto rustico. Se poi, le si vogliono vedere con occhio romantico consiglio una passeggiata estiva nel tardo pomeriggio quando il sole tende a tramontare e i coloro diventano piu caldi oppure in autunno nelle giornate uggiosa e con una velatura di nebbia. Resterete affascinati dal sapore di altri tempi.
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