Abbazia di Santa Maria di Follina

At the foot of the Treviso Prealps, the Abbey of Santa Maria di Follina brings together a Cistercian church, a cloister dated to 1268 and the community of Servite friars who have cared for it since 1915. The church was raised to the rank of minor basilica in 1921.

Why it matters

A monastic community was documented at Follina by 1127; the Cistercians arrived in 1146. The abbey flourished in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. After passing to the Camaldolese in 1578, the monastery was suppressed in 1771, and its buildings were divided among private owners. A parish was established at the abbey in 1819. The complex was entrusted to the Servites in 1915, and restored after damage during the First World War between 1919 and 1921.

What to notice

The cloister’s arcades rest on single and paired columns with carved capitals; a plaque by the entrance dates its completion to 1268 and names Abbot Tarino. A monolithic basin and fountain stand at its centre. The church has three naves on a Latin-cross plan, a pointed arch opening onto the choir, chapels alongside the apse and a rose window in the façade. The bell tower rises at the crossing. The stone Madonna and Child has no known date or sculptor. A commemorative coronation of the statue took place in 1921.

Context and history

The Cistercians rebuilt the church between 1305 and 1335. After the abbey was suppressed, the cloister rooms were adapted as dwellings. An explosive device struck the complex near the end of the First World War; restoration followed in 1919–21. The church received the title of minor basilica in 1921. The community maintains the tradition of a Pentecost pilgrimage from Alpago to the abbey.