Milan Abbeys
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Milan's Abbeys
Having marked the destiny of many generations of humbles, the religious houses are still today the tangible sign of the transformations and the historical-geographical evolution of their local territory. Within them many lay communities have found the material and spiritual force to lighten the yoke of a life of poverty spent in the service of the "masters". The vast operations of agrarian colonisation, carried out in the Middle Ages by religious armed with their prayers, their spades and their ploughs, committed to the spread of an evangelical message admirably summarised in the famous Benedictine rule of "ora et labora", have changed, modified and improved the appearance of a large part of our peninsula. A region like that of Lombardy is marked by industrial and technological progress, by the expansion of the cities and by the relentless flow of men and machines which these project towards the countryside. The contrast between chaos and order, fragility and strength which emanates from the impressive piles of certain abbeys, especially from those located at the centre of the major communication routes, points up the way - possibly the most traumatic, but undoubtedly also the most efficient - to break the headlong and frenetic flow of human events, and to stop, even if only for a hurried visit, to reflect upon the meaning of things and the significance of one's own life.
Abbey of Chiaravalle
In the southern outskirts of Milan, just five kilometres from Porta Romana, the Abbey of Chiaravalle emerge from amidst the warehouses recently built in the area. Erected in 1135 by Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, came from France along with a group of monks from the Burgundy abbey, it was consecrated in 1221 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The tower was added about a century later, so tall and imposing to be renamed "ciribiciaccola". A symbol of cosmic unity destroyed by sin, the monastic edifice tends to develop an architectural grandeur which is not an end in itself, but is rather linked to an ideal of life and of vast spiritual importance. Within the enclosed space of the monastery - distinct from the external or profane space, and frequently secluded within a forest, an island or a mountain - the monks found the ideal ground upon which to fight his spiritual battle.
The Cloister of the Abbey of Chiaravalle
Used to connect the various parts of the Abbey, the cloister of Chiaravalle once represented the artery of monastic life, the heavenly space preparing for and preceding the access to the church and expressing the utmost of spiritual concentration.
Abbey of Morimondo
Founded in 1136 by a group of Cistercian monks originating from Morimond in the Upper Marna, the Abbey of Morimondo admirably performed its original mandate of reclaiming the marshland area and developing the activities related to it.
The Patron Saint St. Bernard of Clairvaux, founding father of another Cistercian Abbey, is still celebrated in a festival held the last week of August in the square in front of the Abbey church of Santa Maria a Morimondo, the only surviving part of the once flourishing Abbey.
Abbey of Mirasole
In the south of Milan, the outlying town of Opera houses the Abbey of Mirasole, a living testimony of the monastic tradition of the Umiliati, so frequently neglected by official historiography.
Founded in the first half of the thirteenth century, it was originally the centre of one of the major operations of agrarian and hydraulic reclamation of the inhospitable surrounding marshland. Just a short distance from Porta Vigentino, and practically forming part of the urban fabric of Milan, the small mediaeval citadel with a large courtyard still represents one of the most typical and best-preserved examples of the ancient rural "courts".
Within its walls the entire cycle of wool manufacturing was carried out, from the sheep-shearing to the weaving and dyeing of the garments; it is also the only example in the whole region which also possessed the mallets for making the wool into felt.
It obviously soon became a landmark for the Milanese craftsmen and workshops, reconfirming the importance of the monastic institutions throughout time as an essential meeting-point between the religious sphere and the needs and requirements of community life. Property of the Ospedale Maggiore since 1797 - to which it was donated by Napoleon in thanks for the care and assistance rendered to his wounded army - it was recently restored to make it into a definitive exhibition centre for the extensive "Benefactors' Picture Gallery" and for the very considerable historical-artistic library heritage accumulated over more than five centuries.
Abbey of Viboldone
In the very heart of Bassa Milanese, not far from the airport of Linate, you will easily reach the Abbey of Viboldone, another stronghold of the lay community of the Umiliati. The present congregation of Benedictine monks, in search of a place where to live out their monastic vocation, were welcomed to Viboldone in 1941 by Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster. Before the long neglect following the suppression of the monastic orders by Napoleone Bonaparte, it had housed the Olivetan monks of which the abbey still retains vital signs. But the origins of Viboldone have to be sought within the testimony left by the Umiliati monks, who played such an important part in the tumultuous life of Milan in this period. Solid and elegant, it still preserves the beauty of its architecture: brickwork contrasting with the serene green of the surrounding fields. Symbol and witness of the evangelical message since the Middle Ages, it has nowadays returned to its traditional role of centre of prayer and of a place consecrated to the search of God.