Exterior of the Romanesque abbey of Sant'Antimo near Montalcino

Things to do

Abbeys and churches

Quiet Romanesque stone, a roofless Gothic nave, and the forest monastery at Camaldoli.

Some of the best hours I have spent in Tuscany have been in a cool church, when the square outside is too bright. These are a few of the ones that stay with you.

Exterior of the Romanesque abbey of Sant'Antimo near Montalcino

Abbazia di Sant’Antimo

A great Romanesque Benedictine abbey below Castelnuovo dell’Abate, in the valley near Montalcino.

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Photo: Luca Aless, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The roofless Gothic abbey of San Galgano standing in open fields

Abbazia di San Galgano

A roofless Cistercian abbey in the Merse valley, with the sword in the stone on the hill above.

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Photo: PaestumPaestum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Certosa di Pisa at Calci below Monte Pisano

Certosa di Pisa, Calci

The great Carthusian monastery in the Val Graziosa, now also home to a natural history museum.

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Photo: Gianni Careddu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The monastery of Camaldoli among autumn woods in the Casentino forests

Camaldoli

The hermitage and monastery of the Camaldolese monks, deep in the Casentino forests.

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Photo: Giordano Giacomini, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The medieval facade and bell tower of San Cerbone cathedral in Massa Marittima

Cattedrale di San Cerbone

A splendid cathedral rising above Massa Marittima’s sloping main square.

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Photo: Mykola Pokalyuk, edited by MenkinAlRire, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Every one of the 315 abbeys and churches we know of is listed further down this page, from the same database as the Village Finder map. In the Things to do directory you can also filter them by area, dogs, access and who you are travelling with. Open them in the directory

All abbeys and churches

The full list, best-documented first. It comes from the same database as the map and the directory, so a place added there appears here too.

315 places

Pieve di Controne’s houses on a wooded slope, with the church bell tower among them

Church

Pieve di Controne

Bagni di Lucca, Lucca province

The main village of the Controneria above Bagni di Lucca, with a Romanesque church turned round after a landslide.

Show on map: Pieve di Controne

Photo: PistolozziMarco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Badia Fiesolana, Fiesole

Abbey

Badia Fiesolana

Fiesole, Florence province

The abbey below Fiesole whose green-and-white Romanesque front survives within an unfinished Renaissance façade.

Show on map: Badia Fiesolana

Photo: sailko, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Open all 315 in the directory

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