Fruttuaria

Fruttuaria Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in San Benigno Canavese, roughly 20 kilometers north of Turin in Piedmont. Founded in 1001 by William of Volpiano, a reform monk closely connected to the Burgundian monastery of Cluny, it quickly became one of the most influential centers of monastic reform in northern Italy. Through its network of daughter houses, Fruttuaria spread the Cluniac reform movement into the German lands, giving it a reach far beyond its modest Piedmontese setting. Of the original Romanesque complex, significant fabric survives including the crypt, which preserves the architectural character of the early eleventh century. Designated an Italian national monument, the site draws visitors interested in Romanesque architecture and medieval ecclesiastical history.