Farfa Abbey

Farfa Abbey is a historic Benedictine monastery in the Sabina hills of Lazio near the town of Fara in Sabina. It originated in the early Middle Ages and became an important monastic center in medieval Italy.

Visitors come for the Romanesque basilica, preserved medieval elements and the cloister, which illustrate monastic architecture from the 11th to 13th centuries. The site contains art, funerary stones and architectural details accumulated over centuries of monastic occupation.

The abbey was founded in the early medieval period and rose to prominence in the Middle Ages as a religious, economic and cultural institution; it was rebuilt and expanded during the Romanesque period and has been altered and conserved in later centuries. The Benedictine community and ecclesiastical authorities influenced its development over many centuries.

Farfa Abbey sits in the Sabina countryside of Lazio, north of Rome, close to the small town of Fara in Sabina and surrounded by rolling hills and agricultural land.

• Architectural highlights: The abbey complex includes a Romanesque basilica and a medieval cloister that are the main architectural attractions for visitors.

What to See #

• Basilica: The basilica is the abbey's main church, largely rebuilt in Romanesque style between the 11th and 13th centuries and retaining medieval architectural features and decorative elements.
• Cloister and monastic buildings: The cloister and monastic buildings form the core of the complex, with a medieval cloister dating from the same broad Romanesque phase and later monastic service structures surrounding it.