The Great Sienese Abbeys

The abbey of St. Galgano

Situated in the valley of the Merse (html file) River a few kilometers from Siena, this Cistercian abbey was built by San Galgano of Chiusdino in 1200.

The story of San Galgano is very similar to that of the more famous Saint Francis.

Galgano Guidotti born in Chiusdino in 1148, he lived a dissolute life until the age of 20 when he dreamed two times the Angel Gabriel and after this experienced began a religious conversion and went to preach in and around Siena.

He withdrew to Monte Siepi and there he constructed a small hermitage.

He met Pope Alexander III who gave him his blessing (the Pope had the power to roast him at the stake!) and encouraged him to build an abbey near his hermitage

He returned to the hermitage and there completed his only known miracle: he drove his sword so deeply into the rock only its hilt remains visible - in the shape of a cross.

He died at the age of 33 in 1181, the year Saint Francis was born.

The Cistercian abbey enjoyed great prestige and its territories extended from Siena to Volterra.

The abbey often came to possess lands to the detriment of those held by other Benedictine abbeys.

Ultimately, its great riches only caused its demise.

It was ravaged many times in 1300 and began a slow decline that lasted until 1800.