After some years we come back to visit the Priorato complex (see).

Today thanks to a group of volunteers, the “Associazione Amici di Priorato”, the complex can enjoy a new life and a visibility lacking for long.
Many restoration works are still to be made and the complex is still ruined in many parts, but, thanks to the volunteers, many works were finished and above all the cleanness and the propriety of the rooms and of the church are preserved.

In the rooms upstairs there are two exhibitions: the cardboards representing various frontages of famous churches and the splendid copper panels by Francesco Maria Martini telling the myths and the origins of the world.

Moreover in the church there is an important work of artistic handicrafts, the suggestive crib depicting Fontanellato.

A short history:
the abbey was founded in 1013 by the Benedictine monks of Leno of Fontana Lata.
After many extensions, in 1332 it was raised to the dignity of Priorate and detached itself from the abbey in 1470.
After many ups and downs the complex was left to a long slow decay: today we hope that increased sensibility towards our heritage and greater financial means could contribute to its renewal.

For more info:
www.fontanellato.org
wikipedia: Chiesa di San Benedetto