VALLOMBROSA ABBEY IS A CENTURIES-OLD monastery in a pristine Tuscan mountain valley founded in 1036 by San Giovanni Gualberto, a Benedictine monk who left Florence to found a monastic order emphasizing isolation, contemplation, and silence. While the Vallombrosan Order he founded has significantly shrunk in the modern era, the abbey they built over several centuries in this picturesque setting is a testament to their faith and their commitment to the natural world. 

This abbey is located in the serene Vallombrosa Forest within Italy’s Apennine Mountain range, just outside of Florence. What began as a few humble wooden huts in the 11th century expanded to feature a bell tower in the 12th century and the motherhouse in 1450, taking its current shape at the end of the 15th century (the abbey’s fishing ponds were relatively modern additions, introduced in the 1700s).