Abbazía di Sant'Ántimo

The Abbey of Sant'Ántimo, a Benedictine foundation, lies some 40km/25mi south of Siena, from which it is reached on SS 2 (to just south of Buonconvento) and then via Montalcino.

The abbey, which may have been founded by Charlemagne and first appears in the records in 813, stood at the foot of a hill covered with dense vegetation. Through various grants of land it grew enormously wealthy, but it began to decline in the 14th century and was formally dissolved in 1462. Only the church now survives. It dates from the 12th and 13th centuries and shows the uncluttered forms of Romanesque architecture. Built in travertine, it has no transept. The nave, 42m/138ft long, is flanked by aisles which lead into an ambulatory with radial chapels