Abbey of Saint Peter, Romanesque abbey in Assisi, Italy

The Abbey of Saint Peter is a Benedictine monastery in Assisi. Its rectangular Romanesque facade, completed in 1268, is built of pink stone from Mount Subasio and has three portals with Gothic rose windows above; the central portal is flanked by two stone lions. The interior has a central nave and two aisles, a raised presbytery over the crypt, and a semicircular apse with a dome.

The monastery was founded in the 10th century by Benedictine monks and was consecrated by Pope Innocent IV in 1253 after a major reconstruction in the 13th century. This comprehensive rebuilding shaped the architectural form visible today.

The abbey keeps the tomb of Don Antonio Pennacchi (1782–1843), a diocesan priest known locally as "the Ave Maria priest." Beside it is a 12th-century fresco of a young Saint Benedict holding the Rule, flanked by Saints Cyril and Methodius, the apostles to the Slavs credited with the Cyrillic alphabet.

The abbey stands on Piazza San Pietro, with the entrance on the facade completed in 1268. The church interior was restored in 1954. The museum lies to the right of the monastery, built over Roman ruins, and its older rooms are used for exhibitions. Look for the stair on the right of the sanctuary that leads down to the crypt.

On the right wall of the passage leading down to the crypt, a six-petalled flower carved into the stone is the seal of the Knights Templar, the flower of life. The crypt below the high altar holds the ancient sarcophagus of Saint Vittorino, third bishop of Assisi, with his fellow martyrs.