Abbey of San Salvatore in Valdicastro

In a green hollow on the slopes of Monte Vicino lies the abbey of S. Salvatore in Valdicastro, known above all for having been the last home of St. Romuald, who died here in 1027 (St. Romuald 952/956–1027). The history of this monastic settlement, which later became a place of pilgrimage and a flourishing institution, is also bound up with the figure of the hermit saint. According to St. Peter Damian, who wrote the saint's “Life”, the hermit settled in Valdicastro, on land given to him by local nobles, around 1009–1010: “at first he lived in a hermitage near the Rocca di Civitella and only in 1009 did he set about building the church” in Valdicastro, “where there was already a small convent of nuns with a chapel […]. Around 1012 the hermit saint returned to Valdicastro to have a cell built not far from the monastery, where he died in 1027. His body was laid in the crypt of the small abbey church”, where it remained buried for almost four centuries. According to historians, the first monastic nucleus consisted of two buildings set at right angles: the church with its crypt and an adjoining building used to house the nuns. In the second half of the 13th century (1262), Abbot Marino, to a design by a certain “master Tebaldo”, carried out a radical restoration which gave the monastery more or less the architectural forms it has now: almost a fortress, with a watchtower attached to other military-looking structures. Of the original nucleus there seem to remain only the east wing of the cloister, with lowered groin vaults, the adjoining chapter house, and a crypt with three aisles divided by pillars and covered with barrel vaults, connected to the upper church by a staircase inserted beside the raised presbytery (unfortunately it was not possible to visit it, so this note is taken from other sources). The church built in the 13th century now lacks its last two western bays, destroyed by an earthquake in 1742. It has a Latin-cross plan and a single nave with a triple-apsed end (see photo: apse area). For the description of the interior, the information comes from fortunate visitors who have been able to admire its structure, “articulated by pointed transverse arches supported by compound pillars and covered with groin vaults”. It is now being restored. Besides the church, all the adjoining buildings are also closed to the public. What is striking about this complex is its fortified appearance, consisting of a compact quadrilateral surrounded by high, massive walls. The building that serves as the church reveals various interventions in its fabric: from west to east, the façade and the “first bay” are built of alternating stone and brick, in an attempt to create a geometric decoration by placing two courses of brick alternating with 4/5 courses of local grey stone; the second bay, by contrast, is built of poorly squared stones laid with a great deal of mortar and little constructional skill: it could be the oldest part; the north side of the transept is in well-squared grey stones laid in regular courses with little mortar (13th century?), although the elevation includes parts put together more roughly and approximately. More refined and uniform, on the other hand, is the construction of the east end of the church, with its three apses, the central one larger than the lateral ones in size and height (see photo: rear view). The rebuilding of the upper part of the whole apse area is evident. Three large single-light windows, one for each apse, open in the centre of the hemicycles: the window of the central apse has a white stone frame carved with a geometric ribbon motif. In the lower part there are a small single-light window and two side slits indicating the position of the crypt. Remarkable is the crowning of the central apse, consisting of a double cornice with geometric motifs. The lateral apses stand about a metre apart from the central one. The masonry here seems less regular and less refined than that of the central apse. The laying is also less precise. The small north apse, however, has a very beautiful single-light window (see photo: apse window). Along the whole of this opening, in fact, runs a torus moulding that divides the window into four sectors, with a central motif formed by a small column with base and capital and a transverse cross arm.