Cloister of Santa Maria a Rosano

The Abbey of Santa Maria is located in Rosano, in the Municipality of Rignano sull'Arno, very close to Pontassieve and a few kilometres away from Bagno a Ripoli.

Founded in 780, it has always hosted a cloistered Benedictine community of women. In the 11th century the abbey came within the sphere of influence of the Guidi counts and was plundered by the Florentines after years of fighting between the noble family and the Tuscan city, until 1147, when peace was signed between the powerful comital family and the Republic, with the patronage of the abbess Sofia Guidi. In the 12th century the church was enlarged and consecrated under the name of the Santissima Assunta. In the 16th century the monastic complex got bigger with the building of the large cloister. In 1810 the Cloister was officially suppressed, but a group of nuns left in the guesthouse re-entered it after Napoleon's defeat. With the following suppression in 1866 the community repurchased the auctioned Cloister.

Over the centuries the abbey has been repeatedly renovated and enlarged, (we recall the earthquake in 1887, the bombing in 1944 and the flood in 1966). The courtyard is dominated by the stark bell tower with single, double and three-mullioned windows. Wide and with harmonious arches is the cloister in the style of Michelozzo. The Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze has recently completed the complex restoration of the painted Cross that is visible inside the church and dates back to the 12th century, a work representing one of the oldest painted panels of Italian art.