Abbazia di Pomposa

Monastery

Basilica Santa Maria

Abbazia di Pomposa

From swamp to cultivated land

Enclosed by Goro and Volano, the two arms of the Po River, Benedictine monks already settled on the island of Pomposa in the 7^th century and began converting the swamps into cultivated land. It is the site of the basilica Santa Maria built in the 8^th / 9^th century; a three-aisled church without transept that was expanded in the 11^th century by erecting the artistically decorated porch and the approx. 50 metres high Campanile. The fascinating interior features the elaborately tiled floor and the slightly faded illustrated bible erected on the crossing walls in the mid-14^th century by painters of the school of Bologna.

Centre of medieval cultural and theological life

Owing to its location at the pilgrims’ road to Rome, the Via Romea, the abbey became a popular rest stop and developed into a centre of medieval cultural and theological life. The Benedictine monk Guido d’Arezzo developed notation at the abbey, Dante rested here on his last journey to Ravenna and even Emperor Frederick Barbarossa stayed in Pomposa in 1171. When the Po River started to change its course in the 13^th century, the swamp area grew leading to an outbreak of malaria. The monastery was eventually abandoned in mid-17^th century.

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