Just outside Milan is a lovely church and monastic compound in the town called Morimondo.
Today, you can go there for a bit of fun living history! Got kids? Perfect! Take 'em along. Spark in them the love for learning and history, as something vibrant for The Now.
It will be one of the best inheritances that you could ever give them...More......
Founded by the Cistercian monks of St. Bernard in 1136, with its greatest period of splendor in the 13th and 14th centuries,the monks were of fundamental importance for the...
...reclaiming of marshy land as useful agricultural terrain.
The abbey began slipping into decadence in the early 15th century. In the mid 16th century, St. Charles Borromeo took away most of the vast land and great wealth it had accumulated (giving it all to the Ospedale Maggiore / "Principal Hospital" of Milan), and finally it was deconsecrated in 1799 during the winds of reform accompanying the young general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Monks returned in 1952.
And don't skip a visit to the lovely church dedicated to Mary. Begun in 1182, it was completed only by the end of the 13th century due to fighting with the local clergy (who saw their power and economic resources draining away from their own pockets and towards the monks).
The little porch (called a pronao) was added in 1736.
Here are the activities planned for Sunday, May 19, 2013:
10:30 A.M., Mass in the (little) Abbey
11:30 A.M., procession from the church to the fields for the blessing of the banners and the shooting off of the guns
3 P.M., behind the Abbey, "Hunting for the Knight", a game between the damsels and knights
6 P.M., the re-enactment of the Battle of Casorate
Traditional nibbles and sips, some based on medieval recipes, are available (one presumes, for purchase).
Because of the high traffic expected, today, the organizers suggest parking in the industrial area of Caselle, where a "navetta" (shuttle bus) will start going every half hour between Caselle and the compound at 2 P.M., with the last one from Morimondo to Caselle at 6:45 P.M.
Morimondo
Piazza Abbazia
Morimondo
tel. 02.9496.1919
fondazione@abbaziamorimondo.it
http://www.comune.morimondo.mi.it
Enjoy!
(P.S., I snapped these pictures on thye 28th of July, 2004.)
1 comment:
It looks so lovely. I would go if I could.
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