Abbazia di San Galgano

The Abbazia di San Galgano is one of Italy's most atmospheric monastic ruins — a roofless Cistercian Gothic church begun in 1201, its nave now open to the Tuscan sky. Built according to the austere architectural principles of the Cistercian order, the abbey features pointed arches and clean stone lines entirely free of ornamental sculpture. The monastery declined rapidly after mercenary raids and plague epidemics in the late 15th century, and the nave roof finally collapsed in 1786, never to be rebuilt. On a nearby hill stands the Romanesque Rotonda di Montesiepi, housing a sword embedded in stone — said to be that of Saint Galgano Guidotti, who thrust it there around 1180 as a renunciation of his life as a knight, a story that predates the Arthurian legends' spread to Tuscany and has fueled speculation ever since. Today, grasses carpet the open nave floor while light pours through empty window tracery, drawing photographers, filmmakers, and those seeking unusual contemplative spaces.