Abbazia di Sant'Egidio, Romanesque church building in Fontanella di Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII, Italy

Abbazia di Sant'Egidio is a church built of rectangular stone blocks in tan, ochre and grey, with a central square bell tower topped by a hipped roof and a single arched opening divided by two thin columns. The peaked facade has a round window above a wooden double door set in a rounded arch, with a blind arch directly above the door and two narrow arched windows flanking it. A smaller arched doorway with a wooden door sits at the right base, and a dentil-like band of small arches runs below the roofline of the sloped tiled side aisles.

The priory of Sant'Egidio was founded on 13 January 1080 by Alberto da Prezzate, shortly after his monastery at Pontida, and joined the network of Cluniac priories under the rule of Hugh of Cluny. A document of 17 September 1178 records the prior with ten monks and four conversi, a number that never changed. In 1428 Bergamo passed to Venice, and the abbey was suppressed in 1473; the church became a parish until 1998 and is now a diocesan rectory.

In the small cemetery of Fontanella, a few dozen metres from the chapel, are buried Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla, secretary of Pope John XXIII, and Father David Maria Turoldo. The church was the parish church until 1998 and is now the seat of a diocesan rectory of the Diocese of Bergamo.

The chapel stands in the Fontanella hamlet, a short walk from the small cemetery where Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla and Father David Maria Turoldo are buried. It is a diocesan rectory church, so check local parish notices for opening times before travelling. The site lies in the municipality of Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII, in the province of Bergamo.

The small cemetery a few dozen metres from the chapel holds the graves of Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla, secretary to Pope John XXIII, and Father David Maria Turoldo. The church itself served as the parish church of Fontanella until 1998, when it became the seat of a diocesan rectory.