Fruttuaria

About

Fruttuaria is an abbey in the territory of San Benigno Canavese, about twenty kilometers north of Turin, northern Italy.

History: The foundation of the abbey was patronized by Guglielmo da Volpiano, who donated the land, allowing for the first stone of a large Romanesque-style church to be laid on 23 February 1003. It was consecrated by Ottobiano, bishop of Ivrea, in the presence of Arduin, marchese d'Ivrea and King of Italy, and his consort Berta. The monastery was completed in 1006-1007 and followed the Benedictine rule as reformed at Cluny. There Arduin retired there and died in December 1015. In 1027 a bull of Pope John XIX placed the abbey and all its lands under direct papal supervision. Empress Agnes was a patron of Fruttuaria, and retired there in 1065 before moving to Rome. She was instrumental in introducing Fruttuaria's Benedictine customs, as practiced at Cluny, to Saint Blaise Abbey in Baden-Württemberg. The greatest splendor of the abbey of Fruttuaria was in the 12th and 13th centuries when it minted its own coin. In 1265 the abbey possessed eighty-five churches in Italy alone, as well as four comuni, the quattro terre abbaziali of San Benigno Canavese, Montanaro...