San Rabano Abbey
Once known as the Monastery of Santa Maria ad Alberese, the Abbey of San Rabano stands in the Maremma Natural Park, in the vicinity of Alberese.
The complex was originally constructed in the 12th century as a Benedictine monastery.
The abbey was later left to the Jerusalem Knights, who fortified it and also erected the nearby tower of Torre dell'Uccellina.
In the sixteenth century, the complex was abandoned as the head offices of the order were transferred to the new church near the Villa Granducale in Alberese.
The original building featured a Latin cross floor plan subdivided into three apsidal naves. The large portal is topped by an arch with bas-relief presenting the same stylistic characteristics as the embrasure in the central apse.
There is also a cylindrical tower that recalls Byzantine constructions.
Inside the abbey there is a stairway that retains part of its original structure.
The ruins of San Rabano Abbey are one of the most significant testimonies of Tuscan Romanesque architecture in an extraordinarily panoramic position that overlooks both the seaside and the mouth of the Ombrone River.
Abbazia di San Rabano
For further information:
ENTE PARCO REGIONALE DELLA MAREMMA
via del Bersagliere, 7/9 - Alberese (GR), Italy
Tel. +39 0564 393 211
