The Abbey of the Saviour is an abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 in the town of Abbadia San Salvatore

Abbadia San Salvatore

Abbadia San Salvatore is a comune in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 110 km southeast of Florence and about 60 km southeast of Siena, in the area of Monte Amiata....

, Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, which is named after the Abbey.

The traditional account of its origin indicates that the Lombard king Ratchis

Ratchis

Ratchis was the Duke of Friuli and King of the Lombards . His father was Duke Pemmo. His Roman wife was Tassia. He ruled in peace until he besieged, for reasons unknown, Perugia. Pope Zachary convinced him to lift the siege and he abdicated and entered, with his family, the abbey of Montecassino...

 founded the abbey in AD 743

743

Year 743 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 743 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* After an interregnum of seven years,...

, entrusting it to the Benedictines. Later handed over to the Cistercians, the abbey played an important regional role, being often in conflict with the houses of the Aldobrandeschi and the Orsini, as well as other allies of the Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

s.