Priverno (a town of approximately 14,000 inhabitants in the Lepini foothill zone, province of Latina. 80km southeast of Rome) is the service town for the Abbazia di Fossanova (4km east of the town center, the Cistercian monastery founded 1135 and rebuilt in the pure Cistercian Gothic style between 1163 and 1208, consecrated in 1208 in the presence of Pope Innocent III, and the specific place where Thomas Aquinas died on March 7, 1274 while traveling from Naples to Lyon for the Second Council of Lyon). The Fossanova abbey isn't a secondary monument: it is the finest single example of Cistercian Gothic architecture in Italy, built with the specific austerity and geometric perfection that the Cistercian rule demanded of its monastery architecture (no figurative sculpture, no color in the glass, no gilding, the decoration reduced to the proportional relationships of the architecture alone), and the place of death of the most important Christian philosopher of the medieval period.
Thomas Aquinas (see the Aquino guide for the full biography) was traveling by mule from the Naples court to the Lyon council when he fell ill at the Maenza castle (20km south of Priverno). Brought to the Fossanova abbey as the nearest suitable place for care, he died in the abbey guest house on March 7, 1274, nine days after his arrival. The specific room (the camera di San Tommaso, the guest cell in the monastery guest quarters, now a small chapel) is shown to visitors as part of the abbey guided tour.
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Priverno: Abbey and Town
The Abbazia di Fossanova
The Fossanova abbey (open daily 9:00-12:30 and 15:00-18:30. Admission minimal. Guided visits organized by the Cistercian monks who still maintain the monastery) consists of the church (the three-aisled Gothic nave, the ribbed vaults, the rose window on the facade, the complete Cistercian Gothic program in its Italian form, which differs from the French original in the use of local limestone rather than French limestone and in certain decorative details that Italian craftsmen introduced), the cloister (the quadrangle of pointed arches around the central garden, the finest single cloister in Lazio), the chapter house, the refectory, and the guest quarters (including the camera di San Tommaso). The specific Fossanova quality: the abbey is still inhabited by Cistercian monks (approximately 20 brothers) who maintain the monastic life and manage the abbey farm. The monks sell the Fossanova products (honey, olive oil, herbal preparations, wines from the abbey cellar) at the abbey shop.
Q&A: Priverno and Fossanova
How do I reach Fossanova Abbey from Rome?
By car: 80km southeast via the A1 (exit Frosinone) then Via Casilina south, or via the A2 (exit Ceprano), approximately 1.15 hours. By regional train: Roma Termini to Priverno-Fossanova station (the station name includes Fossanova, approximately 1 hour by regional train, then 4km taxi or local bus to the abbey). Best combined with the Sermoneta medieval castle (20km north, the finest medieval castle in Lazio, the Caetani Castello di Sermoneta) and the Ninfa garden (5km from Sermoneta, the medieval ghost village with its extraordinary botanical garden, open on specified dates from March to November, book at giardinodininfa.eu).
Internal Links
- San Tommaso d'Aquino: Da Aquino a Fossanova
- Monti Lepini: Cori e il Circuito Vicino a Priverno
- Norma: I Lepini al Nord di Priverno
- Cistercensi in Italia: Fossanova e Casamari
- Lazio Meridionale in Primavera: Fossanova e i Lepini
- Fotografare Fossanova: Il Chiostro Cistercense
- Lazio Sud: Priverno e i Borghi Lepini
