In late November of 2024,I spent a delightful morning relishing this Cistercian Monastic Complex…read moreoriginally created in the 12th Century.I saw and appreciated its awesome bell tower,church,and cloister.Chiaravalle was a major agricultural center in the Medieval and Renaissance Period. In the interior of this special church,I saw fine paintings produced in the Renaissance Period by Bernardino Luini("Madonna on the Throne With Christ Child"),Giovanni and Giovan Mauro Della Rovere(Fiamingo Brothers,"Foundation of Abbey of Chiaravalle"),and Bramantino(frescoes).The abbey's church,bell tower,and cloister are fine examples of Gothic Architecture.The booklet "Chiaravalle Abbey Milan"written in English and sold at the abbey's shop for a very reasonable price helped me appreciate this religious complex more.You can reach this abbey by bus from the Milan Metro (Bus#77 from the Corvetto Metro Station).

The Abbey of Santa Maria di Rovegnano (Latin: Sanctæ Mariæ Clarævallis Mediolanensis) is a…read moreCistercian monastic complex in Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. The borgo that has developed round the abbey was once an independent commune called Chiaravalle Milanese, now included in Milan and referred to as the Chiaravalle district. The abbey was founded in 1135 (!!!) and it is one of the first examples of Gothic architecture in Italy, although maintaining some late Romanesque influences. Curiously, the church tower is known in the local dialect as Ciribiciaccola. Agriculture and Grana Padano Here as elsewhere in the Po valley the Cistercians, and later the Benedictines, were known for their industry in clearing the thickets and woodland and in draining the marshes so as to establish up-to-date agriculture practices based on a system of large farming establishments called granges. The origins of the hard Italian granular cheese known generically as grana--the best known examples today being Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano (or Parmesan)--are traditionally ascribed to the monks of Chiaravalle. The weekly meetings with your art history teacher ends here. See you soon on Channel Yelp;)