Santa Maria Arabona

Cistercian Abbey of Santa Maria Arabona

Abbey church of Santa Maria Arabona
Location within Italy
Monastery information
Order Cistercian
Established 1209
Disestablished 1587
Mother house Tre Fontane Abbey
Diocese Chieti-Vasto
Site
Location Manoppello, Italy
Coordinates 42°18′08″N 14°03′44″E / 42.302298°N 14.062206°E / 42.302298; 14.062206Coordinates: 42°18′08″N 14°03′44″E / 42.302298°N 14.062206°E / 42.302298; 14.062206
Public access yes

Santa Maria Arabona is a Cistercian abbey in Abruzzo, in central Italy. It is located at Manoppello in the frazione also called Santa Maria Arabona. In Roman times the area was sacred to the goddess of fertility and virginity Bona Dea.[1]

Architecture

The Gothic tabernacle

The most important of the abbey buildings still extant is its church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, whose construction began in 1208 with the transept and the apse. The edifice remained partly unfinished, due to financial and political troubles within the order.

The church is built on the Latin Cross plan, with the nave ending in an apse housing the high altar. The aisles support the ceiling. The interior is very sober, apart from the richly decorated tabernacle and Paschal candle in Gothic style. The choir contains frescoes by Antonio Martini di Atri dated 1377.

The church, which was restored in the 1950s, is surrounded by a park from which the rest of the abbey is accessed.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Arabona" (in Italian). Monastero cistercense della Certosa di Firenze. Retrieved December 29, 2014.

Bibliography

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