Fruttuaria, Archaeological site and abbey in San Benigno Canavese, Italy.
Fruttuaria is a former Benedictine abbey featuring Romanesque architecture with rounded arches, sturdy columns, and a six-story bell tower. The complex spreads across several buildings that once housed monastic cells, a church, and service structures.
The abbey was founded on January 17, 1001, by William of Volpiano and grew rapidly into a major Benedictine center. It received backing from around 324 European supporters and housed up to one hundred monks in its peak years.
The monastery served as a center where monks copied and preserved manuscripts that shaped how religious communities organized their daily life. These written rules spread throughout the region and shaped practices in many other places.
The site opens during certain months with access on the first and third Sundays of each month. Wear comfortable shoes because the ruins and foundations are spread across uneven ground.
Excavations uncovered the oldest known fixed stone burial structure, built to replicate the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. This rare monument reveals how deeply this community connected itself to sacred sites across the Christian world.
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