Staffarda abbey
Staffarda abbey
The Abbey of Saint Mary of Staffarda was founded in the first half of the 12th Century by the Cistercian monks, who were coming from France and had been helped by Saluzzo Marquis. In 1750 , with the Papal Bull of Benedetto XIV , the Abbey had been given to the Maurician Order.
The abbey complex comprehends the church with the elegant cloister with double columns (conserved in the north and west sides), the monastic buildings with refectory and chapter house, and nine farm houses. Staffarda had the magnificent wooden stalls made during the XVI century that in 1846 had been divided and put away following Carlo Alberto’s willing since after the French domination there were no more monastic life. A part of the stalls was destined to Pollenzo’s church, the remaining part was given to Turin’s civic museums. A must-see masterpiece is the wooden polyptych painted with gold, by Pascale Oddone made in 1533, placed on the main altar.
In Revello’s territory a few kilometers away from the built-up area there is Staffarda Abbey , built by the Cistercian monks in the XII and XIII centuries on a vast area donated by Manfredi I Marquis of Saluzzo. The inside in romantic-gothic style has three bays and it presents significant masterpieces such as the monumental polyptych of the main altar, made by Pascale Oddone in 1531 and the wooden crucifixion in the 15th century. Other buildings of the abbey complex both historically and artistically relevant are: the cloister in exposed brick in around 1250, the chapter house with cross vaults , the covered market-hall in gothic style, supported by nine big piers.
The buildings can be visited every day, Monday excluded.