Description of the attraction
The Abbey of Novaleza is an ancient religious complex founded in the 8th century and located in the commune of Novaleza in the Italian valley of Val di Susa.
The history of the abbey dates back to the distant 726 year - it was founded by order of the Frankish ruler of Susa Abbon in order to control the Moncenisio pass. In those years, monasteries were located in strategically important places, and the Franks often used them as a starting point for their campaigns of conquest. The first abbot of the abbey, a certain Godone, was appointed by Abbon himself.
From the Frankish rulers Pepin the Short and Charlemagne, Novalez received numerous advantages, among which were the right to elect an abbot and independence from secular and religious institutions. Over time, the possession of the abbey stretched as far as Liguria, and it itself was in close relationship with the Abbey of San Colombano in the town of Bobbio in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. In 817, Novaleza became the property of the Benedictine Order, and it flourished in 820-845 under the abbot of Eldaro.
Unfortunately, in 906, the abbey was destroyed by the Saracens, and the monks fled to Turin. Passing through the town of Lomellina, they built the Breme monastery there. Among the escaped monks were the later canonized Justus and Flaviano, who were killed by the Saracens in the town of Ulks. In the 11th century, Novaleza was rebuilt and, together with the communes of Ferrera and Venaus, formed a kind of church belt, which retained its independence for many centuries.
In 1646, the abbey became the property of the Cistercian order, which ruled it until 1798, when it was expelled by the Piedmont government. A couple of years later, in 1802, Napoleon entrusted the management of Novaleza to Trappist monks, who were supposed to facilitate the passage of French troops through the Moncenisio Pass. Subsequently, after the law on the abolition of the monasteries was passed, the novices of the abbey were again forced to leave it. The auctioned buildings of the religious complex have been converted into a hotel and a seminary library. Only in 1972, the Novaleza monastery complex was bought by the government of the province of Torino and was again handed over to the Benedictine Order.
The Abbey of Novaleza has preserved traces of all past eras. In the church, built in the 18th century on the foundations of an older, Romanesque, temple, you can see fragments of frescoes, among which the image of St. Stephen stoned, made in the 11th century, deserves special attention. The cloister of the church was built in the 16th century. There are four chapels near the monastery: Santa Maria (8th century), San Salvatore (mid 11th century), San Michele (8-9th centuries) and San Eldrado, which is notable for its cycle of frescoes from the late 11th century.
