San Giovanni in Venere Abbey, Romanesque abbey in Fossacesia, Italy
San Giovanni in Venere is a Romanesque abbey set on a hill along the Abruzzo coast of the Adriatic between Fossacesia and the sea. The complex includes a three-nave basilica with an apse, a bell tower, monastery buildings from different centuries, and a cloister with pointed arches.
The current building rose from 1165 under Abbot Oderisio II after an earthquake and was finished around 1204. The monks followed Cistercian building principles from Burgundy and created a monastic site with extensive landholdings along the coast.
The name joins John the Baptist with Venus, recalling that a Roman shrine once occupied this spot. Today worshippers attend Mass in the basilica while visitors walk among the medieval columns of the cloister.
The abbey sits on a hill above the coast and can be reached by road from Fossacesia. Guided tours show the basilica, the cloister, and the monastery gardens overlooking the sea.
Beneath the church archaeologists found remains of a Roman temple from 80 before Christ dedicated to the goddess Venus. These ancient foundations show that the hill was considered a sacred place long before Christianity.
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