Novalesa Abbey
Encyclopedia
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, 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...
. It was founded in 726, and dedicated to Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
.
Novalesa
Novalesa
Novalesa is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km west of Turin, on the border with France.As of 31 December 2004, Novalesa had a population of 560 and an area of 28.3 km²....
is in the Val di Susa, on the route to the Mont Cenis Pass. The founder, Abbo of Provence
Abbo of Provence
Abbo was the Patrician of Provence in opposition to Maurontus in the 730s. He was also rector of Maurienne and Susa. Abbo came from the family of Waldelenus in the Besançon. They controlled the Alpine passes of Susa, Embrun, and Gap....
, was a local Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
governor. The abbey stands on the former Via Francigena
Via Francigena
The Via Francigena is an ancient road between Rome and Canterbury, passing through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. In mediaeval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route...
, a major pilgrimage road. The founding monks are thought to have come from the Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
region. It was endowed by Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
and Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
. The first phase of the abbey's history came to an end when it was destroyed by Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
raiders in 906.
Restorations have taken place over the past three centuries. The abbey is still in operation as an active Benedictine monastery.
See also
- Walter of AquitaineWalter of AquitaineWalter of Aquitaine is a legendary king of the Visigoths. He figures in several epic poems and narratives in medieval languages:* Waldere, an Old English fragment* Waltharius, a Latin epic written by the monk Ekkehard I of St Gall...
- List of Carolingian monasteries
- Carolingian architectureCarolingian architectureCarolingian architecture is the style of north European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries, when the Carolingian family dominated west European politics...