Sacra di San Michele

The Sacra di San Michele clings to the rocky spine of Monte Pirchiriano at 962 metres above the Susa Valley, making it one of the most dramatically sited monastic complexes in Italy. Founded around 901 in Romanesque style, it served for centuries as a Benedictine abbey and drew pilgrims crossing the Alps toward Rome along the Susa Valley route. The site is widely cited as a likely inspiration for the mountain monastery in Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose', and it remains the official symbol of the Piedmont region. The abbey is today home to the Rosminian order. Visitors ascend through the so-called Staircase of the Dead — lined with burial niches carved into the rock — before emerging into the Romanesque nave, with sweeping views across the Po Plain and surrounding Alps from the terrace outside.