Badia di Susinana Monastery

Santa Maria Assunta di Rio Cesare a Susinana is located on the Mugello mountains in an evocative place between the two rivers, Senio and Rio Cesare, in the municipality of Palazzuolo sul Senio; it is a very fascinating place, which has undergone transformations over the centuries and has been the focus of historical events experienced by these border places of the Apennines between Tuscany and Emilia Romagna.

A spiritual place of light, silence, reflection and pure air that originally was a monastic complex in the Vallombrosa area starting from 1090. As early as the Middle Ages it has welcomed pilgrims and adventurers, in 1680 the Abbot was the Vicar of the «Holy» Inquisition in Palazzuolo and in more recent times it has been used as a hospital and a warehouse for the troops during World War II.

Buried in its cemetery in 1302 was Maghinardo Pagani, remembered by Dante in the 27th canto of the Inferno.
Legend has it that once a year, on the spring equinox, a ray of sunshine, seeping through a hole, would reveal the location of the tomb...

Found inside the church are a fine wooden choir dating to 1771, located behind the main altar, and the ceramic baptismal font made by the Manifattura Fornaci San Lorenzo, according to the typical ideals of the Renaissance, re-worked in a modern and art deco style, to a design by Tito Chini.