Cistercian Gothic at the foot of Monviso
In the plain between Saluzzo and Revello, among fields and poplars, with the profile of Monviso in the background, the Abbey of Santa Maria di Staffarda is one of the most important medieval monuments in Piedmont. It was founded between 1122 and 1138 by monks of the Cistercian order, at the initiative of the marquis Manfredo I of Saluzzo, and quickly became a powerful centre: the monks reclaimed the marshy lands of the plain, built farms, mills and a market, and the abbey became one of the richest in the region.
The church, built in brick and stone in a style of transition from Romanesque to Gothic, is sober and harmonious, following the rules of Cistercian architecture; inside it holds a sixteenth century wooden altarpiece and a beautiful pulpit of the same period. Around the church are preserved the monastic buildings: the cloister, with elegant twin columns, the chapter house, the refectory, the guesthouse and the old covered market, the "ala", where the products of the abbey were sold, as well as the farmhouses where the lay brothers lived. Since 1750 the abbey has belonged to the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, a Savoy chivalric order, and is now managed by the Fondazione Ordine Mauriziano.
Tip: the abbey is open every day except Monday; combine it with Saluzzo and the castle of Manta.
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