The Abbey of Farfa

The abbey we might admire today was built from the church with a basilical interior with a nave and two isles around which there is a large courtyard and two cloisters.
The church is an extremely beautiful monument, so much so that it seems quite surprising to find it in such a rural area. The outside has been often renovated across the centuries yet maintaining the overall harmony.
The inside of the church is entirely decorated: with frescoes on all the walls and a caisson ceiling with golden ceiling roses.
Important frescoes and paintings are also present, such as the "Giudizio Universale" you may admire on the internal faÃ§ade and some frescoes by Orazio Gentileschi.
The ensemble results extremely suggestive, also thanks to the very careful use of lights.
In front of the abbey there is a tiny street with two rows of old houses in which there are small commercial activities.

During medieval times the complex was one of the most rich and powerful monastic communities. Its origins may be traced back to the middle of the VI century, shortly after which it was destroyed. It was then reconstructed, in the VII-VIII century, by some monks from Savoye among which there was Tommaso di Maurienne.
La sua posizione di confine conferÃ¬ a Farfa una notevole rilevanza politica e la fece quasi subito entrare in relazione con i duchi longobardi di Spoleto.

Its strategical position made it shortly gain a discrete amount of political relevancy and contacts with the Longobard dukes of Spoleto. In 774 it flanked Carlomagno against the king Desiderio and the following year Carlomagno gave this monastery two immunity diplomas which rendered them free of all, both religious and civil, jurisdictions and placed them directly under the emperor.
This opened the doors to a very fortunate period for Farfa, terminated only with the Arab incursions and the burning of the Abbey in 898.
Some years later it was once-again reconstructed and, after some initial difficulties, returned, in the XI century, to its original splendor. In 1122, with the settlement of Worms, it passed from the imperial to the pontifical patronage.
In the '400 Farfa was imposed the commendam and the Prior could no longer be nominated by the monastic community but was chosen by the Pope. These changes brought to the affirmation of the hegemony of the principal noble roman families: first the Orsini and then the Farnese. In 1567 Alessandro Farnese, apostolic vice-chancellor and bishop of Sabina, had the Pope declare the inclusion of Farfa to the congregation of Cassino.
The abbey was, in this period, greatly renovated.
This new phase of economic wellbeing lasted until the beginning of the '600 gradually diminishing throughout the rest of the century.
Repercussions of the French revolution caused the loss of its autonomy as ecclesiastical authority.

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