Abbey of St Maria del Monte

About

The Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte (St. Mary of the Mountain) is a Benedictine monastery in Cesena, Italy. This imposing building stands on the Colle Spaziano (Spaziano Hill).

History: The abbey was founded about the year 1001 and completed by 1026, in connection with a small church which housed the remains of St. Mauro, a Benedictine monk who had been the Bishop of Cesena in the first half of the 10th century, and who had the custom of climbing the hill on which the abbey stands in order to pray. His vita was written by the Camaldolese monk and cardinal, Peter Damian. The abbey was confirmed in 1059 by a papal bull of Pope Nicholas II. The abbey benefited greatly when it received the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa as a guest in 1177. The emperor gave the abbey his protection and bestowed a large grant of land to the community. In 1317, Robert of Anjou donated two columns lying on the grounds of the monastery to the monastery of Santa Chiara he and his wife were building in Naples. It is supposed that the columns were brought from Jerusalem by Barbarossa. In 1356, however, the ruler of Forlì, Francesco II Ordelaffi, seized the monastery and used it as a barracks for his troops. The...