The journey itself turned out to be a big part of the attraction - incredibly beautiful Tuscan scenery, nice winding roads, and little traffic. One part of the drive was quite strange - amid all this lovely nature, we came upon a valley with an industrial factory, several big cooling towers, and a big silver pipe snaking up the hillside! I bet the people who live in that valley were thrilled when that was built!
The abbey was a nice change from all our city sightseeing - wonderfully peaceful and accessible. We parked for free along the tree-lined access road and wandered around slowly for a couple hours. It was mostly cloudy when we arrived but we took our time, hoping it might get better. And indeed we did have some nice sunbreaks, especially near sunset.
This scenic location first became a religious site in 1180, when Galgano Guidotti renounced his worldly life as a knight by plunging his sword into a rock and living as a hermit. He died a year later and was soon revered as a saint. An interesting round church was built over the site (the Eremo di San Galgano), where the "sword in the stone" can still be seen today. Especially impressive is the dome, which is quite large and made of alternating brick and stone.
View of the Eremo di San Galgano on its hill.
Closer look at the Eremo
Eremo interior, with sword in the stone under a plastic bubble in the center.
Sword in the stone
Stripy dome
In old churches, you just never know when you're going to run into a corpse or piece of one.... According to legend, these arms belonged to someone who tried to pull the sword out of the stone in 1181 while Galgano was away. He was then eaten by a wolf, a friend of the saint. Carbon dating was done on the arms in 2001, and they do date from the 12th century.
In the valley below the Eremo, the Abbey of San Galgano was built by the austere Cistercian order in 1224-88. It was the first fully Gothic church in Tuscany and was used as the model for Siena Cathedral. Today it is a pretty, roofless ruin. None of our interior photos came out very well, but we lucked out with some nice evening sun on the outside.
Abbazia di San Galgano
West facade of abbey church
Side view of abbey church
Remains of monastic buildings adjoined to the church
By the time we left it was getting late, so we picked up a snack from the bar/gift shop next to the abbey and headed back to our apartment for yet another delicious homemade pasta dinner. We are really missing that tradition already and are determined to incorporate more self-catering apartments in our traveling future!
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