Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

that was formerly a Cistercian

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

located near the railway-station of

Priverno Priverno is a town, ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy. It was called ''Piperno'' until 1927. It has a station of the Rome-Naples railway mainline. Nearby is the Monti Lepini chain. It was the birthplace of the canonist Reg ...

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, about south-east of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

History

Fossanova is one of the finest examples of early Burgundian

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

in Italy, dating to around 1135. Consecrated in 1208 by monks of its

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow memb ...

of Hautecombe, it retains the bare architecture, the magnificent rose window and finely carved capitals, reflecting the prominent role within the area. In July 1198 Eugenius, the master chamberlain of Apulia and Terra di Lavoro, was ordered by Constance and her son to transfer a land property from the imperial ownership to the Abbey of Fossanova. The property was located near Aversa and its extension was calculated by John Bassus, chamberlain of the Terra di Lavoro. (PhD dissertation) A monk of Fossanova compiled the ''

Annales Ceccanenses The ''Annales Ceccanenses'', also called the ''Chronicon Ceccanense'' or ''Chronicon Fossae Novae'', is a chronicle of universal history from the birth of Jesus down to 1218. It was begun in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century by an anony ...

'' down to 1218. Another historical source for the same temporal extension are the ''

''. En route to the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, the Dominican scholastic

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

died in the abbey on 7 March. In 1461

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

signed a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

returning to the abbey various properties which had been enstranged by the previous abbots. The estate list was compiled by Rodrigo Borgia, nephew of

Pope Callixtus III Pope Callixtus III ( it, Callisto III, va, Calixt III, es, Calixto III; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alfonso de Borgia ( va, Alfons de Borja), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his ...

, who was attempting to finance a naval expedition against Turks. Since 1935 pastoral duties in the local abbey parish were entrusted to the care of Franciscan Friars Conventual (OFMConv.), until 2017. Since 2017, the pastoral care of the abbey and its parish have been entrusted to the fathers of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, with the help of the sisters from the same Religious Family, the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, who live in a convent at just a few kilometers.

Architecture

The frugal Gothic church is cruciform and square-ended, similar to that of Casamari and

Cîteaux Abbey Cîteaux Abbey (french: Abbaye de Cîteaux, links=no ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Cistercian order. Today, it belongs to the Trappists ...

. The church is flanked on one side by the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

, along with the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...

and chapter house and on the other side by the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. The nave at Fossanova dates from 1187 and the church was consecrated in 1208. The other conventual buildings also are noteworthy. The hospital, guesthouse, gardens, and buildings related to the farm are all scattered throughout the walled enclosure. Buttresses are set against the walls but they are small and more like classical pilaster than

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

. File:Fossanova Abbey fc02.jpg, File:Fossanova Abbey fc03.jpg,

References

External links

Fossanova Abbey website (it.)

* ttps://archive.today/20130624182020/http://www.comune.priverno.latina.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120&Itemid=168&lang=en Comune di Priverno: Abbazia di Fossanova (eng.)* Cistercian monasteries in Italy Monasteries in Lazio Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Gothic architecture in Lazio Churches in the province of Latina {{Italy-struct-stub

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links