Monte Oliveto Maggiore

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Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Basic data
Country Italy
Ecclesiastical province Immediate
Dept Diego Gualtiero Rosa OSBOliv
Dept. Emeritus Michelangelo Riccardo Tiribilli OSBOliv
founding 14th Century
surface 49 km²
Parishes 4 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Residents 475 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Catholics 475 (2016 / AP 2017 )
proportion of 100%
Religious priest 11 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Catholics per priest 43
Friars 25 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Religious sisters 8 (2016 / AP 2017 )
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language Italian / Latin
cathedral Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Website monteolivetomaggiore.it
Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey

Monte Oliveto Maggiore ( Latin Abbatia Territorialis Sanctae Mariae Montis Oliveti Maioris , also Arcicoenobium Montis Oliveto Maioris , Italian Abbazia territoriale di Monte Oliveto Maggiore ) is an abbey in Tuscany . As a territorial abbey , an ecclesiastical territory is assigned to it.

location

The abbey is located in Chiusure (district of Asciano ) on a ridge in the Crete Senesi landscape south of Siena near Buonconvento . It was built in the middle of meadows and fields at the top of a steep valley. The actual monastery is built of red brick and is located in a spacious park with an avenue of cypress trees. The huge cistern is located above the monastery .

meaning

The Monte Oliveto Abbey is the ancestral monastery and the seat of the Abbot General of the Olivetans , a Benedictine branch order . Today the Olivetans form one of 19 congregations of the Benedictine order , in Latin Congregatio Santi Benedicti Montis Oliveti . The Office of the Abbot General is in personal union connected to the abbot of Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

history

The founding document of the monastery dates from 1319. The founder is considered to be the legal scholar Bernardo Tolomei , a member of an important family from Siena. At the age of 40 he decided to renounce worldly life together with his two noble friends Patrizio Patrizi and Ambrogio Piccolomini. The three retired to Tolomei's estates on a ridge south of Siena, led an ascetic life according to the rules of St. Benedict and took on other followers. In honor of Bernard of Clairvaux , Giovanni took the monk name Bernardo.

On March 26, 1319, the monks received confirmation from the Bishop of Arezzo . In 1344 the new order was confirmed by the Pope. Tolomei and 80 confreres died of the plague in 1348. In order to avoid confusion with monasteries of the same name, the abbey was later called 'Monte Oliveto Maggiore' .

The monastery flourished under its first rulers , so that the mighty monastery complex could be built between 1387 and 1514. The monks created the cypress forest in the 14th century. In 1765 Monte Oliveto became an exempte Abbatia nullius with its own, bishopric-like territory. In 1810 the monastery was closed for a short time and from 1866 to 1929 the Olivetan monks were only tolerated as custodians of national property. The Abbot General resided in Settignano during this time . The abbey is still inhabited by Olivetans in their white costume . The products of the associated farm are sold in the monastery shop .

Abbots

art

The abbey is especially famous for its cloister and three-story loggia . The cloister is decorated with a cycle of 36 frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, called Sodoma . The wall-high paintings from the Renaissance depict the life of St. Benedict and are considered to be one of the most beautiful fresco cycles of the Renaissance. To protect the images, the arcade openings to the inner courtyard were closed with lattice windows.

  • cistern

  • court

  • in the cloister

  • main square

  • refectory

Luca Signorelli's frescoes

The cycle was started in 1497 by Luca Signorelli , who only painted until 1498. The theme of the entire work is the life of St. Benedict as told by Gregory the Great . Signorelli did not stick to the chronological sequence of the biography when choosing the themes for his frescoes.

  • Benedict converts the inhabitants of Monte Cassino

  • Benedict awakens the monk who has fallen from the wall

  • Benedict receives Totila

  • Benedict discovers Totila's deception

Sodoma's frescoes

The much larger part of the frescoes was painted by Sodoma from 1505 . In his 25 frescoes he mainly turned to the youth of Benedict.

  • The Benedictine monks are tempted by courtesans

  • Benedict announces the destruction of Monte Cassino

  • Benedict commissions two monks to build a monastery

  • Benedict lets water flow from a mountain peak

  • Monteolivetomaggiore01.jpg

literature

  • Korbinian Birnbacher : Art. Monte Oliveto. In: LThK , 3rd edition, Vol. 7, special edition, Herder, Freiburg 2006, Sp. 437f.
  • N / A: Monte Oliveto Maggiore. L'Ulivo, Siena 2002. No ISBN.
  • Kurt J. Sundstrom: The Chiostro Grande of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and the Olivetan reform movement. Bell & Howell, Ann Arbor (Michigan) 2000. No ISBN
  • Giovanni Brizzi: Il coro intarsiato dell'Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore. Silvana, Milano 1989, ISBN 88-366-0238-X .

Web links

Commons : Monte Oliveto Maggiore  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ - ( Memento of September 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Wissen.de, no longer available
  2. ↑ Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore - Azienda Agricola

Coordinates: 43 ° 10 ′ 31 ″  N , 11 ° 32 ′ 39 ″  E