Monastero di Camaldoli

The monastery and the Sacred Hermitage of Camaldoli owe their foundation to the activity of san Romualdo, a friar of the Abbey of Sant' Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna. This relevant figure of the medieval monasticism tied its doctrine to the preservation of Christian values, such as the freedom in devoting one's faith in God and the deep devotion to the Gospel. Saint Romuald operated in the frantic XI century and the Camaldolese monks are among the people who followed him.

The year of foundation of the monastery is 1024. Its subdivision reveals the will of its founder, Saint Romuald, to make up for the main principles of his credo, namely the hermitage's intimate reflection and the concreteness of work inside the monastery.
In effect, before it was transformed into a convent again around the years 1080-1085, the monastery had been a hospital destined to host pilgrims, wayfarers and poor people looking for a shelter.
Around the XIII and the XIV century, the monastery, which had survived to two fires, experienced a period of wealth also thanks to the diffusion of the Camaldolese order in other rural centres and towns in Tuscany. By benefiting from isolation and quiet, the monks of Camaldoli were among the first to rediscover and divulgate many works of theologians, the founding fathers of the Church and Greek-Roman thinkers. Since the XVI century, the group of Camaldolese dedicated to hermitage left the order and founded a new congregation.
In the modern times, the contribution to the culture of the Camaldolese was enriched with scientific, mathematic, natural and historical studies. Yet, at the end of the XVIII century, the history of the order clashed with the suppression of religious congregations as established by Napoleon Bonaparte who had founded the satellite-state of the Kingdom of Etruria.The activity of the friars was suppressed in 1810, first, and in 1866 as established by the kingdom of Italy.
Despite so many difficulties, the monastery succeeded into keep its architectural complex in an excellent state and kept numerous works of art. In the oratory of the Eremo, the altar piece "Madonna con Bambino e Santi", one of the many earthen masterpieces by Andrea della Robbia, a XV-century representative of a glorious dynasty of Tuscan ceramists, can be admired. Instead, the church of the monastery houses a "Natività" by Giorgio Vasari. It is an oil on panel painting that can be traced back to the juvenile production of this famous Renaissance artist.