The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, set among the gullies and hills of the Crete Senesi, is the origin and uninterrupted reference point over the centuries of the Benedictine Congregation of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto. Easily recognisable from the road, it appears as a complex of red-brick buildings peeping out between the yellow of the Crete and a flourishing garden.
The monumental complex is a set of buildings erected between the 14th and 18th centuries, preceded by a medieval palace with a drawbridge that was the entrance to the monastic enclosure. Two paved paths immersed in the greenery lead past some chapels and a large pool, to the service buildings and the solemn monastery.
Today, the monks make it possible to visit, with specific modalities,  the abbey church, with its splendid inlaid wooden choir, the monumental refectory, which is still in use, the large cloister with its frescoes with the stories of St Benedict, the ancient library, the furnishings and instruments of the pharmacy, the chapter house, now an exhibition space, the garden with chapels, the wine cellar and the herbalist’s shop, where it is possible to know about the products of the land cultivated by the monks.

Aerial photo Abbey – Fabrizio Pacchiacucchi
Photographic campaign – Giacomi Doni