Fossanova Abbey

Fossanova Abbey was built by the Cistercians on what had previously been a Benedictine settlement. The altar was consecrated in 1208. Typical Cistercian formal severity shines through in the architectural language of the church. The monastic buildings surround the cloister, including the refectory and chapter house, designed along the principles of essentiality and rationality of the spaces.

According to tradition, Thomas Aquinas’s last living moments were here, dying in a small room of the monastery guesthouse in 1274.