Chiesa e Abbazia di Nostra Signora Assunta (Finalpia)

The Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption at Finalpia is a Benedictine complex in the valley of the Pia stream. A church is documented here in 1170; the present church was rebuilt between 1724 and 1729 around the sanctuary of the Madonna. The complex preserves a medieval bell tower, Renaissance cloisters, Della Robbia terracottas and an inlaid sacristy.

Why it matters

The abbey connects Finalpia's religious history with the settlement between the coast and the hills. A church of the Madonna in the valley of Pia is recorded in 1170, when its possessions were confirmed to the Benedictine abbey of San Quintino di Spigno. The Olivetans took possession of the old monastery in 1477, and the community passed to the Sublacense Benedictine Congregation in 1905. The monastery's long history is reflected in its church, cloisters and surviving works.

What to notice

The bell tower of Pietra di Finale has three tiers of paired windows beneath an octagonal spire and dates to the thirteenth century. A stone tondo of the Madonna and Child recalls works financed by Viscontina Adorno in 1463. The single-nave church, rebuilt between 1724 and 1729 to designs by Girolamo Veneziano, called il Fontanetta, has a high altar donated by the Prasca family in 1728. Its Madonna and Child is attributed to Nicolò da Voltri around 1420. The monastery preserves glazed terracottas by Giovanni Della Robbia and Santi Buglioni, sacristy inlays dating to 1534–35 and two cloisters completed in 1921.

Context and history

In 1474 Biagio Galeotto Del Carretto petitioned Pope Sixtus IV to entrust the monastery to the Olivetans; they took possession in 1477. The sixteenth century brought a choir and inlaid frames by Fra Antonio da Venezia, as well as illuminated choir books by Bartolomeo Neroni, now in Genoa's Berio Library. Between 1940 and 1943, Father Leandro Montini painted a fresco cycle on the liturgical year in the monastic chapel. The abbey's apiary, active since 1930, continues the Benedictine association of prayer and work.