Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta a Conèo, Romanesque monastery in Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy

The Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta a Conèo is a Benedictine monastery featuring a rectangular nave with a transept and dome, complemented by traditional stone monastery buildings. The interior displays Romanesque characteristics with stepped arches and a presbytery divided into three distinct sections.

This monastery was founded around the year 1000 and stood at the intersection of two major medieval pilgrimage routes, the Via Francigena and the Via Volterrana. In the 15th century, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who would later become Pope Paul III, received the abbey in commendam.

The abbey's necrological register, its oldest document, records monks, conversi and even a painter, Bonitio pictor, who died on 31 May — an early trace of painting in the Valdelsa. The church was consecrated in 1124 in the presence of the bishops of Volterra, Anagni and Acqui. The parish had about 150 inhabitants in 1576.

This monastery remains closed most of the time and is not normally accessible to visitors. To see the interior, you will need to arrange a visit in advance through local contacts or the municipal office.

The abbey's 11th-century necrology records a Bonitio pictor, a painter buried here on 31 May — an exceptionally early trace of painting in the Valdelsa. The same register names the converso Azzo, who ran a mill, and Erito, keeper of the monastery hospital.