Abbey of Santa Maria di Faifoli, Medieval abbey in Montagano, Italy.

The Abbey of Santa Maria di Faifoli in Montagano survives as a single church, all that remains of the Benedictine monastery. Its facade ends in a gable, with a Gothic portal of pointed arches dated 1263 by an inscription on the left capital; above it sit a small niche and then a semicircular window. The interior has three naves, the central one twice the width of the side aisles, divided by six square pillars carrying round arches.

The first historical records of the abbey date to 1134. In 1230 it received Pietro Angelerio, the future Pope Celestine V, who returned in 1276 as abbot at the request of Capoferro, archbishop of Benevento, to settle a dispute with Simone Santangelo, lord of Montagano. After Charles I of Anjou's letter of 27 September 1278 failed to stop the lord's abuses, the abbot moved the monks to San Giovanni in Piano near Apricena. The abbey remained Benedictine until the French suppressed the order in 1808; the church passed to the municipality of Montagano on 28 February 1998.

The wooden Madonna dell'Incoronata sits on a tree trunk instead of the usual throne, a detail to look for in the church. A 1705 painting of the Virgin and Child hangs here too. The name Faifoli comes from the Samnite centre of Fagifulae, later a Roman municipium, on whose site the Benedictine community arose.

The church stands in the countryside of Montagano, in the province of Campobasso, and was ceded to the municipality on 28 February 1998. The interior has three naves, the central one twice the width of the side aisles, divided by six square pillars. Look for the two plaques on the pillars recording restoration work commissioned by Cardinal Orsini.

An inscription carved into the left capital of the portal is dated to 1263 and directly documents the architectural work being done at the monastery during that period. This carved record serves as tangible evidence of medieval construction activity at the site.