Abbey of Santa Maria in Sylvis, Benedictine abbey in Sesto al Reghena, Italy

The Abbey of Santa Maria in Sylvis is a Romanesque church with three naves and an elevated choir area. Below the church lies an underground crypt with twenty columns that divide the space into smaller chambers.

The abbey was founded in the early 730s and received protection through Charlemagne's diploma in 781, which confirmed its lands and properties. This grant freed it from secular control and secured its independence.

The Latin name "in Sylvis" ("in the woods") recalls the forest that once surrounded the abbey. In 1182 its abbot Godfrey was elected patriarch of Aquileia, and from 1441 to 1786 commendatory abbots, starting with Cardinal Pietro Barbo, later Pope Paul II, often came from Venetian noble families. The former abbot's residence now houses the town hall of Sesto al Reghena.

The complex opens off Piazza Castello through the single surviving entrance tower, whose stone bridge replaced the original drawbridge in the 18th century. The church vestibule, the crypt with its twenty columns, and the courtyard buildings are separate spaces, so plan to move between them rather than seeing everything in one sweep.

The urn of Saint Anastasia in the crypt is cut from a single block of Greek marble, carved in the 8th century by masters from Cividale and decorated with flowers, crosses, arches, roundels and rose motifs. In the two apses of the same crypt stand a Pietà of Austrian origin from the early 15th century and an Annunciation in Slovenian marble with Byzantine traits.