The Farfa Abbey
Being a center of temporal and spiritual power, the Abbey was powerful since the VI century. During the Carolingian period the importance of the abbey grew rapidly and it was central to the European renaissance at the end of the first millennium under the protection of the emperors. Charlemagne visited the monastery on November 800 and granted the abbey the privilege of autonomy from all civil and religious power. Henry IV, when struggling with the Pope, gave the abbey the title of Imperial Abbey. Farfa played a fundamental role in the history of the central Italy during the following centuries. The Abbey belonged to the Benedictine order, a powerful organization covering much of Europe and with it's own political and economic interests, which often contrasted with those of the Pope. It was also a centre of great cultural splendour and throughout the Middle Ages its library of precious manuscripts was one of the most famous in Europe. The Worms Concordat (1122) decreed the abbey’s decline and it returned under Papal jurisdiction.
Visit the Church of Santa Maria, its crypt and cloisters. Inside the church, on the interior wall of the façade, see the Last Judgement, an oil fresco dating back to 1571 by the Flemish Pinter Henrik van der Broek. See as well other interesting frescos by Orazio Gentileschi and Zuccari school, fine grotesque decorations and the mosaic floor.
Important art works, archeological pieces, 45.000 antique volumes and engravings are gathered at the monumental abbey complex.
The workshops of the village fair around the Abbey, very famous during the Renaissance, have been brought back to life by artisans and merchants, giving the town its characteristic atmosphere.