Valle Christi, Gothic monastery ruin in San Massimo, Rapallo, Italy

The monastery of Santa Maria in Valle Christi is a ruined Cistercian complex in the hamlet of San Massimo, Rapallo, listed as an Italian national monument. Its Gothic stone church and cloister, with pointed arches and small double marble columns, survive in part; the cloister was still intact thirty years before 1858.

Altilia Malfanti, widow De Mari, and her sister Tibia, owners of the land, asked for a Cistercian nuns' convent and planned to retire there themselves; a deed of 3 April 1204 by Archbishop Ottone Ghilini confirmed the donation. Built by about 1206, the monastery was placed under Santa Maria dello Zerbino in Genoa and housed nuns including Carinzia Visconti, niece of Pope Gregory X. Suppressed by a papal edict of 9 August 1572, it was sold in 1572 for 10,155 Genoese lire and declared a national monument in 1903.

The name Valle Christi, Valley of Christ, comes from the site itself; the Cistercian nuns lived here in enclosure for almost three hundred years, among them Carinzia Visconti, niece of Pope Gregory X. The church venerated a relic of Saint Blaise, given to the nuns probably by a Genoese captain after the 1380 expedition. After the monastery was suppressed in 1572, the relic and a painting by Domenico Fiasella were transferred to the basilica of Santi Gervasio e Protasio in Rapallo.

The ruins are set in the Santa Maria del Campo area and can be reached on foot along hillside paths from central Rapallo. Since the site is fully outdoors, a visit is more comfortable in dry weather and with suitable footwear for uneven ground.

A local story tells of a nun who fell in love with a shepherd and is said to have been entombed alive inside one of the walls along with her newborn child. This tale has been passed down in the area for generations and gives the ruins a human story that goes beyond their religious past.