A Little History Of The Monastery Of Fonte Avellana

Its origins go back to the end of the first millennium and are closely linked to the history of the congregation of Camaldolesi. The hermitage was probably founded by St. Romualdo in 980th. Gave considerable impetus to the abbey the work of St. Peter Damian, who became Monaco in 1035 and Priore since 1043, not only for the extension of the original buildings but also for a strong cultural and spiritual hermitage. The religious tradition shows the number of 76 saints.

The Hermitage is mentioned by Dante Alighieri in The Divine Comedy (Paradiso, canto XXI), which seems that it was also a guest.

Abbey built in 1325, Fonte Avellana became a socio-economic power and, shortly afterwards (year 1392) experienced the practice of commenda (XIV - XV century). In 1569, the congregation was suppressed autonomous avellitanians who had until then governed the monastery, through the congregation camaldolese.

Fonte Avellana remained "Commendatore" to almost everything in 1700 and also had some commendatory if, for example, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere then Julius II, who left evidence of character building and embellishments quite noteworthy, nevertheless deeply affected of the inevitable bias, why the revocation of his monastic life, though slow, was inexorable.

This decline ended with the Napoleonic of 1810 and shortly afterwards the Italian in 1866. Session under the management of the monks Camaldolese, in 1935, today Fonte Avellana has found its former glory, both spiritual and architecture.
Last 5 September 1982 Pope John Paul II visited Fonte Avellana in the celebration of the millennium of the foundation of the Eremo.

Since 2007, the Botanical Garden of the monastery, which has always been reserved for monks, is open to the public.