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Vezzolano Abbey

Vezzolano's 1189 stone rood screen, one of Italy's most complete, still divides the abbey's Romanesque-Gothic nave.

  • Turin
  • Church
Plan your visit
Where
Turin
Best for
1189 stone rood screen
Allow
1 hour

A carved stone rood screen from 1189, among the oldest and most complete in Italy, still divides the nave of this Romanesque-Gothic abbey in the hills above Albugnano. Canons Regular built Vezzolano on a site legend ties to Charlemagne, and by the early 1200s its facade carried the two-tier blind arcades and rose window that still define it.

The cloister's capitals mix biblical scenes with grotesque beasts, and frescoes from the 1300s line the walls above. Suppressed under Napoleon and later abandoned, the abbey was restored through the twentieth century and passed to state management in 2014; it now shows a permanent exhibition in its chapter house and keeps a small medieval-style orchard behind the cloister, part of the Transromanica network of Romanesque sites across Europe.

Four things worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. The stone rood screenBurgundian-school sculptors, completed 1189

    One of the rare Romanesque rood screens left in Italy. The upper tier shows the Dormition of the Virgin, the lower the patriarchs from Abraham to Joseph, all in colored sandstone.Across the nave

  2. The Three Living and the Three Dead frescoAnonymous painters, 14th century

    Horsemen meet three corpses on the road in a macabre medieval parable. It sits in the best-preserved run of 14th-century frescoes in Piedmont.Cloister, northwest walk

  3. The façade with its ceramic bowlsRomanesque, late 12th to early 13th century

    Three tiers of blind arcades, a two-light window with Christ between the archangels Michael and Raphael, and colored Islamic ceramic basins set into the brick.Exterior façade

  4. The Samson and the lion capitalAnonymous Romanesque sculptor

    A small carved scene of Samson prising the lion’s jaws apart, easy to miss while you look at the screen.Left aisle, beside the rood screen

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Booking
No booking needed
Time needed
1 hour
Best time
A weekday morning, when the cloister light suits the frescoes
Getting there
In the countryside below Albugnano, about 30 km northeast of Turin; there is no train or bus service, so driving is the only practical option, with free parking at the abbey.

The official site notes that some visit slots require mandatory advance booking; check vezzolano.it before travelling. Free audio guides are available for the portal, facade, interior and cloister.

Ask at the ticket desk for the free audio guide: the carved capitals reward close, guided looking that a quick walk-through would miss.

Official website
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Good to know

How long should you spend at Vezzolano Abbey?

About an hour is right. That covers the church, the rood screen, the cloister frescoes and the chapter house exhibition. Linger longer if you like Romanesque carving.

Is Vezzolano Abbey worth visiting?

Yes, it is among the most important medieval monuments in Piedmont and part of the Transromanica route. Strictly speaking it was a canons’ priory rather than a true abbey, but the name stuck. It is also a quiet stop in the Monferrato hills, far from the Turin crowds.

Do you need a car to reach Vezzolano Abbey?

Yes, in practice. There is no train or bus to the abbey in the countryside below Albugnano, and the abbey has free parking. Check opening days before you set off, since the site is small and state-run.

More to see nearby

Same city first, then the nearest across the region.

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