Abbadia Isola

The main center of attraction is the Romanesque church of Saints Salvatore and Cirino, founded in 1001 by the countess Ava along Via Francigena and in particular at one of the castles owned by the same family called Borgonuovo. The place where the monastery stands - which as the name suggests was once surrounded by water - was chosen mainly for the strategic position controlling the Via Francigena, of which Borgonuovo later Abbadia Isola) was a stopping point since the end of the 10th century.

A few years after its foundation, the Abbey obtained imperial privileges and in the XII century it passed under the protection of the municipality of Siena which fortified it with defensive works and with a moat. In the heyday, from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, it controlled a large area so that the castle gradually lost importance in favor of the abbey. Around the middle of the fifteenth century due to the expansionist push of the common citizens, the abbey began a slow decline, culminating with the annexation to the monastery of S. Eugenio near Siena.

All the purely religious characteristics of the village disappeared, with the fall of Siena in 1554 also the military importance diminished, in a short time Abbadia a Isola became an anonymous rural village.

Recently reopened after a long restoration, today it offers the opportunity to visit this precious and spiritual pearl in its austerity. Inside, divided into three naves, you can admire an interesting fresco from the early 16th century by Vincenzo Tamagni and a marble baptismal font from the 15th century.