San Vittore alle Chiuse: the stone abbey where the Sentino enters the gorge

At Genga, in the province of Ancona, most visitors head straight for the Frasassi Caves and drive on. Just a few metres before, though, where the Sentino stream emerges from the gorge and flows into the Esino, a mass of pale stone rises that almost no one looks at: the Abbey of San Vittore alle Chiuse. It is one of those places that reward those who stop rather than pass by.

The church

The church was built of limestone in the second half of the 11th century, as part of a Benedictine monastery documented as early as 1007. The plan is unusual: a Greek cross inscribed in a square, with four large columns dividing the space into nine bays. Above the central one opens a dome, protected on the outside by an octagonal drum. A cylindrical tower and a square keep give the facade an air more of a fortress than a church, a sign of the restless times in which it was born.

The interior

Inside you will find no gold or lavish frescoes. You will find bare stone, light falling from above and an almost total silence. It is precisely this austerity that makes it one of the purest expressions of Marche Romanesque, declared a national monument in 1902. For centuries the abbey held great weight, exercising jurisdiction over dozens of churches in the area, before its long late-medieval decline.

The setting

The setting does the rest. All around rise the walls of the gorge, the water flows clear beneath a small bridge, and the trails of the Gola della Rossa and Frasassi Regional Nature Park set off practically from the door. You can combine the visit with a walk along the Sentino or to the nearby Temple of Valadier, without ever entering the crush of the caves.

When to go

Go early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when the buses bound for Frasassi have not yet arrived or have already left. Spring and early autumn offer the best light and the liveliest water. Leave your car in the marked spaces, respect the silence of the place and the waymarked trails: this is a fragile, living monument, not a backdrop for a quick photo.

Related guides: The most beautiful abbeys in Italy to visit, region by region.

Getting there

The Abbey of San Vittore alle Chiuse lies at Genga, in the Marche, near the Frasassi Caves. By car you take the SS76 dual carriageway and exit at Genga-San Vittore Terme, then follow the signs for the village. The Genga-San Vittore Terme railway station, on the Ancona-Rome line, is a few minutes' walk from the abbey; the reference airport is Ancona.