Chiaravalle della Colomba

Chiaravalle della Colomba monastery
Cistercian priory Chiaravalle della Colomba
location	Italy region of Emilia-Romagna province of Piacenza
Lies in the diocese	Piacenza-Bobbio
Coordinates:	44 ° 55 '34 "  N , 9 ° 58' 25"  E Coordinates: 44 ° 55 '34 "  N , 9 ° 58' 25"  E
Serial number according to Janauschek	111
Patronage	St. Mary
founding year	1136
Year of dissolution / annulment	1810
Year of repopulation	1937
Mother monastery	Clairvaux
Primary Abbey	Clairvaux
Congregation	Congregation of Casamari
Daughter monasteries	Fontevivo Quartazzola Brondolo Santa Maria in Strada San Martino di Bocci

Chiaravalle della Colomba (Latin Claraevallis a Columba ) is an Italian Cistercian monastery and is located in the municipality of Alseno , on the Via Emilia between Parma and Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna .

history

Documents prove the existence of the monastery from 1136 . Presumably it was founded 4 years earlier at the instigation of Bishop Arduin of Piacenza. This makes it one of the early settlements of the Cistercians in Italy (after Bedini the ninth).

The first Cistercian monastery was built in Cîteaux in Burgundy in 1098 , and a little later the famous Clairvaux ( 1115 ). Chiaravalle was founded directly by monks from Clairvaux, some indications that Bernhard von Clairvaux was personally involved. The foundation by the Burgundian monastery can be seen from the name: Chiaravalle is the Italian further development of the originally Latin name "claravallis" (= bright valley), Clairvaux the French. The name addition "della Colomba" (dove) refers to a legend in connection with the foundation: a white dove is said to have laid a branch at the place where the monastery was to be founded.

In the tradition of the Cistercians ( ora et labora ), the monastery has done a lot to cultivate the swamps and alluvial forests of the Po Valley . Extensive donations soon made the monastery so wealthy and powerful that it was able to establish numerous other daughter monasteries in the area. Immediate daughter monasteries were Fontevivo , Quartazzola , Brondolo , Santa Maria in Strada and San Martino di Bocci . The abbey flourished in the Middle Ages. But in 1248 it was almost completely burned down by the troops of Emperor Frederick II .

Plant and buildings

Typical floor plan of a Cistercian church

The abbey was closed by Napoleon in 1810 and converted into a parish church. The associated changes to the furnishings (organ, benches, pulpit) shape the appearance of the church to this day. Only a few fragments of the frescoes survived from the sparse, painterly decor, a few of which are from Giotto's successors . But since 1925 some alterations from the 17th century were reversed, the three-aisled , spacious monastery church has once again exuded great simplicity, in keeping with the rule of the order.

The structure of the monastery adheres strictly to the guidelines that Bernhard had issued. The straight end of the choir and the almost square chapels to the right and left of it are typical of Cistercian churches . Originally there were two other chapels at the front of the transept . This arrangement, as it also existed in the Abbey of Pontigny (Burgundy), clearly shows that many monks must have been priests at the same time , who needed chapels for their daily services .

The alternation between red bricks and white house stone is characteristic of the building . B. in the arches of the central nave arcades , reminiscent of the church of Vézelay ( 1140 ). This can also be found in the high-Gothic entrance area of ​​the chapter room , which has an Islamic appearance in its delicacy .

From the church there is access to the cloister , from which all important buildings can be reached. It is the heart of the system. Ogival arcades supported by double columns open onto the inner courtyard. Another masterpiece of Gothic stonemasonry can be found here : the knot in the column. The symbolic meaning of this ornament , which is also very common in Bohemia , is unknown. The foundations of a well house have been preserved in the cloister - similar to that of Maulbronn Monastery .

The abbey, which was once remote - like all Cistercian monasteries - is now impaired by the noise of the immediately adjacent motorway. Nevertheless, in 1937 a group of Cistercian monks from the Congregation of Casamari was able to repopulate the monastery as a priory .

photos

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  Central nave

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  Sanctuary

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  North aisle

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  Cloister

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  Ornaments at the entrance to the chapter house

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  Knot in the column

Commons : Abbazia di Chiaravalle della Colomba  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the abbey (Italian)
• French website with countless pictures

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