Monks and Military Police

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Geo: 43.1418, 11.6596

Again, it was rainy on Monday, so after a quiet morning of pottering around the village and doing some school work, we took it easy until the sun started to come out in the afternoon. Steven and I had been reading up about the Monte Oliveto abbey that we'd been unable to see on Saturday, and decided that this afternoon's plan was to return to this lovely, lonely spot. The road from San Giovanni d'Asso is currently under repair, and technically is "closed" but in typical Italian fashion, someone has helpfully moved the barricades from the closed road, and dozens of cars are pouring along the road (including one section where only one lane of a bridge remains!) I'd have been nervous, except all the cars in front of us and behind us had monks, in full ecclesiastic gear – although Steven said that this may mean that their cars had an extra level of protection!

The view of the Crete Senesi was fabulous – these are the strange rocky outcrops in this part of Tuscany that are described as “lunar” by those who have only ever lived in a lush productive climate.

The Monte Oliveto Maggiore monestary was founded in the 14th century by a member of the Sienese nobility who joined the Benedictine monks, and the walls are decorated in very detailed frescoes by Sodoma, telling the story of Saint Benedict and episodes from his life. It was very beautiful, and a place of great peace. The only difficulty is that the entire monestary is a place of “SILENCIO E RISPETTO”, and silence and respect are very hard for little boys to maintain! The kids did a great job, and if the monks heard them, I do hope that they remembered indulgently when they were little boys with too much energy!

We had a great time wandering with the kids, admiring the frescoes, the dining room where the monks still eat, the library and pharmacy – and the cantina where the monks have been selling their wine for 700 years. Well, we had to do the right thing and buy some! We then did have a slight dilemma – we were planning to attend vespers with the kids, to hear the Gregorian chants of the brothers, but what should we do with our wine purchases? We decided that the wine also should benefit from an extra blessing (and how could the Brothers be unhappy that we had bought THEIR wines?) The vespers were nice, but it was too hard for the kids to keep absolutely silent. We were worried that any noise or whispers by the kids might be a problem – what could be said when, halfway through vespers, the carabinieri (military police) arrived, in the church, and after bowing to the altar, proceeded to indicate which priest they wished to speak to, immediately! Bet there is a story there!

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