San Bruzio, Medieval monastery in Magliano in Toscana, Italy.
San Bruzio is a ruined Benedictine monastery in the countryside southeast of Magliano in Toscana. Construction began around 1000 and was completed by the late 12th century. What remains are the apse, the eastern walls of the transept, and arches that once supported a dome with pendentives and an octagonal calotte; the base of the tiburium still stands. The exterior walls are built of large squared travertine blocks.
Benedictine monks began building the monastery around the year 1000, and construction was completed towards the end of the 12th century. The surviving walls, the apse and the arches that carried the octagonal dome belong to that Romanesque campaign. The carved capitals are linked to those of San Rabano through models from beyond the Alps.
The abbey takes its name from Saint Bruzio, a figure of local devotion, and the site is still tied to the countryside around Magliano in Toscana. Visitors can pick out the carved capitals of the half-pillars, decorated with foliage and anthropomorphic heads, a detail linked to models from beyond the Alps.
The ruins stand in open countryside about two kilometres south-east of Magliano in Toscana, along the road toward Sant'Andrea, and are reached by car in a few minutes. There are no services at the site, and the surviving walls, arches and apse have no protective structures or railings, so watch your footing on uneven ground.
The semi-pilaster capitals carry carved foliage and anthropomorphic heads, linked by scholars to those of San Rabano through shared models from beyond the Alps. Look up at the surviving arches to spot them.
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