Remains of the San Galgano Monastery

Located in the town of Chiusdino, between Siena and Massa Marittima, in the sweet and fertile landscape of the Merse Valley and the Metallifere Hills, rest the majestic ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of San Galgano: silent and solitary and enveloped by a magic and mystic atmosphere, they rise in the beautiful half of spacious countryside, forming one of the most romantic and fascinating locations of the region.
Built in the 13th century, this monastery complex signaled the beginning of Gothic art in Tuscany, which today represents, with Fossanova Abbey (Latium), one of the most important examples on the entire Peninsula and is testimony to the wide diffusion of the creed of San Galgano (whose holiday is December 3rd) which reached the peak of its splendor in the 15th century. Protected and benefitted by the numerous emperors, among which the most famous being Enrico VI, Ottone IV, and Federico II, it was even excused from the tithe by Pope Innocent III.
To this period of splendor was followed a period of decline, which, slow and relentless, reduced the abbey to a large ruin. The building, with Latin cross plan, has three very wide naves, divided by high, slender columns literally "going towards the sky": and in fact, the most significant characteristic of San Galgano is the absence of cover, and it is for this that it is called "the Abbey of the open sky". Of great impact are the apse, and six single-lancet windows, and the counter-façade rose window, which , through their openings, the solar rays filter in creating light effects.
The mysterious fascination of this location is linked to a medieval legend that is truly incredible. Above a hill on the outskirts of the abbey rises the Hermitage of San Galgano, called "Rotonda di Montesiepi" for its circular shape. It is said that a certain Galgano, coming from a family of Guidotti nobles, dedicated himself to a debauched life and his young whims. However, one night the Archangel Michael appeared in a dream who told him to follow him. Very disturbed, the young man did not respect the message of the Archangel, and he appeared to him again and with the same message. Galgano, undaunted, did not let this influence him, but one day it happened that, while he was returning from his girlfriend on horseback, the Archangel Michael appeared for the third time: the animal, frightened, threw him off, and the young man, getting up off the ground, as if hypnotized, thrust his sword into a rock, which made the shape of a cross with hilt; the angel disappeared and from that moment, Galgano became a devoted follower of the Lord and closed himself in the hermitage at Monte Siepi. Here they say that he died on the night of December 3, 1181, leaning against his cross. Well, in the Rotunda, at the center of the Dome, today the "sword in the stone" is visible, protected by a plexiglas case and attracts "hoards" of tourists, pilgrims, and those curious from everywhere. The architecture is also noteworthy. The mausoleum of San Galgano is made up of the Chapel dedicated to the Saint and of the Dome: the Chapel was constructed in a square shape in the 13th century; it holds, other than the tomb of the Saint, fragments of frescoes of Lorenzetti, and was constructed using alternating bands of white stone and brick. Also the beautiful Dome, open by four embrasure windows, was realized using the same method: it created a system of concentrated white and red rings, which make, if observed from the center of the room, a sensation of "infinity".