Badia di Santa Maria della Gloria, Former Florense abbey in Anagni, Italy
Badia di Santa Maria della Gloria is a 13th-century monastery complex in Anagni, now abandoned, with several ruined buildings whose floors are largely lost. Its Romanesque austerity survives in rough grey-brown masonry: a tall square tower with small round and rectangular openings and a low pyramidal roof, flanked by lower stone blocks with rows of small windows.
The abbey's origin is placed in the first decades of the 13th century, though no document fixes the exact founding year. Cardinal Ugolino, later Pope Gregory IX, completed a chapel begun by his brother Adenolfo and dedicated it to Saint Martin; a nearby monastery to the Virgin was then joined to it as Santa Maria della Gloria. The Florensian abbot Giovanni da Ninfa, from Monte Mirteto, led the community between 1216 and 1231. Papal protection faded after Alexander IV's death in 1261, and the abbey closed in 1297 when the Caetani bought its lands.
The abbey was entrusted to the Florenses, followers of Joachim of Fiore, and its first abbot, Giovanni da Ninfa, came from the monastery of Monte Mirteto between 1216 and 1231. Part of the complex now hosts theatrical performances of the Festival del Teatro Medievale e Rinascimentale.
The complex stands in open countryside in the municipality of Anagni, reached by rural roads, and much of it is in an advanced state of decay, with several floors lost. The Comune di Anagni has bought the buildings and planned consolidation and restoration work. Part of the complex hosts theatrical performances during the Festival del Teatro Medievale e Rinascimentale.
The abbey was entrusted to the Florenses, followers of Joachim of Fiore, under Abbot Giovanni da Ninfa, who came from the monastery of Monte Mirteto between 1216 and 1231. After the Caetani bought its lands in 1297, the complex passed to a lay owner, Leonardo Martinelli, who turned it into a farm.
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