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The Abbey of Saint Antimo is located about 18 km from Montalcino, near Castelnuovo dell'Abate.  To get there take the road that from Montalcino goes toward Seggiano and Monte Amiata, shortly before arriving in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, turn right and you soon reach the Abbey. 

Sant'Antimo is truly a beautiful abbey built in travertine, beautiful is also the landscape that surronds it, but what is surprising is the interior of the church really impressive. 

Tradition attributes the founding of the Abbey of Sant'Antimo to Charlemagne, though the first reliable documentation is an act of the Emperor Louis the Pious (813).

During the ninth century, thanks to donations and the purchase of the imperial relics of St. Anthony, the abbey consolidated its prestige, and in the eleventh century, thanks to its proximity to via Francigena, found himself placed in the system of major European pilgrimage routes. The activity of providing shelter and assistance to the pilgrims helped to increase the number of donations to the abbey, which became one of the most important monasteries of Tuscany, with its property that extends into Siena and Maremma.

Thanks to generous donations made to the abbey by Count Bernardo degli Ardengheschi, in the years after 1117 was built a new abbey church, known as the Carolingian chapel, which is still visible today. The main evidence of the Italian and European Romanesque culture, derived from order of the Benedictines of Cluny (France), are concentrated within this new building. 

The heavy expenses incurred in building the new church brought about a dangerous economic situation, already documented in 1163, this marked the beginning of the decline of the Benedictine abbey, it was entrusted, in 1291, in the hands of the monks of the order of William II and finally suppressed by Pope Pius II in 1462 and incorporated in the new diocese of Montalcino. 

This abbey, more than any other building in Tuscany, has a profound resemblance to the French style, greatly mediated, however, by the local traditional architectural style and influenced by the artistic culture of Lombardy. 

Characteristic of Sant'Antimo it's the type of stone used in the construction, a particular quality of travertine, which gives the structure a charm of brightness and transparency. Onyx is instead been used in architectural decoration. 

The facade is very simple, has a lancet (monofora) asymmetrical, surmounted by a mullioned window and a high crown with arches. Below are the remains of a porch and the portal of the second half of the thirteenth century, with the lintel of the twelfth century, that holds the name of the architect of the church, the monk Azzone. The massive square bell tower complete the exterior structure of the Abbey.

We continue our visit inside the Abbey.