Built centuries ago on an elevated hill overlooking a small Italian town below, sits a long forgotten and abandoned monastery, that is also shrouded in a bit of mystery. The entire 14 acres of the monastery complex, which consists of the original church, cloister, and convent; as well as the later additions of a chapel, gymnasium, school, and dormitory are all surrounded by a forest of shady oak trees lined with Mediterranean scrub. It is only accessed by a narrow, winding, worn-out road that seems to be just as vacant as the monastery itself.
The monastery was originally built by the Franciscan Order and used as such for the majority of its existence. Sometime in the early 1900’s, the monastery became a seminary and orphan asylum for young children before eventually closing down in 1994.
The old monastery is shrouded in mystery because not only is the history of the place vague at best, but the fact that some of the locals claim that the building is haunted and therefore, often visited by Satanists who come to the former monastery to perform black masses and mock the holy trinity of the Catholicism. Additionally, another puzzling and interesting fact is that apart from a couple of spray-painted satanic symbols on the walls, most of the monastery itself is still in pristine condition, especially after sitting abandoned and neglected for nearly 30 years.
And finally, some of the church’s interior hand-painted details depict what appear to be battles of good versus evil. In one of the murals you can clearly see a green goblin creature grabbing the leg of a well-dressed man. In another mural, you can see an angel pouring water onto a small crowd of burning people. Obviously, none of us know the true meaning behind these cryptic paintings, but they are certainly original to the church and it’s almost like they have been somehow influenced by the satanists who come to speak blaspheme upon God.
After spending several hours documenting the buildings, we all left with the place feeling like the monastery is still a bit of a mystery and there are still some unanswered questions that remain. Although it is documented that the place closed as a seminary orphanage due to the number of declining orphans, rumor has it that it may have been closed for another reason, one that has been kept from the public.
The current owner is trying to sell the complex for several millions dollars, but as you can see they do not care much about the history of the monastery or what happened here. The local Italian towns people where the monastery is located, have recently gotten together to try and raise money to help save the place. Let’s hope that they can make it happen, as this historic monastery should be both preserved and protected.