Badia di Santa Maria della Gloria

The Badia di Santa Maria della Gloria is the tufa shell of an early-thirteenth-century Florense abbey outside Anagni's walls. Founded under Cardinal Ugolino, later Pope Gregory IX, the complex preserves the austere Romanesque character of a monastery that was eventually converted to agricultural use.

Why it matters

The abbey offers a view of the religious landscape beyond Anagni's better-known papal palaces and cathedral. Cardinal Ugolino established the complex for the Florensi, the order inspired by Joachim of Fiore. Its early history spans the foundation in the first decades of the thirteenth century and the Florensi building campaign of the 1220s; a papal bull of 1232 lists the abbey's assets.

What to notice

The surviving buildings are formed from yellowish tufa and arranged around a sober Romanesque complex. Walls and towers close three sides, giving the monastery a fortified appearance. The interior was stripped during the centuries when the property served as a farmhouse, so the remaining shell and its overall layout are the clearest evidence of the abbey's former character.

Context and history

The complex grew from land and buildings associated with Ugolino's family. After the death of Pope Alexander IV in 1261, the abbey lost an important protector; the Caetani acquired much of its land in 1297, and the property later passed in commendam and then to the Martinelli family. They used the former church and monastic buildings as a farmhouse. The Comune di Anagni acquired the site in 1995, followed by consolidation work in 2000 and 2004.