This imposing abbey can be seen from afar on the dirt cycle path. It is worth entering and admiring the church facade and the avenue lined with huge pines.
Situated in a beautiful setting, the sentiero del Giubileo and the ascent to mount Lonzina are recommended in its vicinity to fully enjoy the landscape.
The Praglia Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in the Paduan countryside, at the foot of Mount Lonzina (Euganean Hills) in the municipality of Teolo and near Abano Terme. It currently houses the National Library, which is an Italian national monument. It is currently run by the abbot Dom Stefano Visintin and the community has 49 monks. The abbey church of Santa Maria Assunta was elevated by Pope Pius XII in February 1954 to the dignity of a minor basilica.
The Praglia Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in the Paduan countryside, at the foot of Mount Lonzina (Euganean Hills) in the municipality of Teolo and near Abano Terme. It currently houses the National Library, which is an Italian national monument. It is currently run by the abbot Dom Stefano Visintin and the community has 49 monks. The abbey church of Santa Maria Assunta was elevated by Pope Pius XII in February 1954 to the dignity of a minor basilica.
The ancient Benedictine monastery now appears in the form of the reconstruction of 1469, which continued until the mid-16th century.
The complex includes the church of the Assumption (1490-1545) - built to a design by Tullio Lombardo - and the monastery, divided into four cloisters. A very suggestive environment is the monumental refectory, inside which, in addition to the magnificent wooden furnishings, there is a large "Crucifixion" painted by Bartolomeo Montagna at the end of the fifteenth century.
The National Monumental Library, housed here, and the restoration laboratory for ancient books and codes are very important.
Praglia Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in the Paduan countryside, at the foot of Mount Lonzina (Euganean Hills) in the municipality of Teolo and near Abano Terme. It currently houses the National Library, which is an Italian national monument. It is currently governed by the father abbot Don Stefano Visintin and the community has 49 monks. The abbey church of Santa Maria Assunta was elevated to the dignity of a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in February 1954.
History
Founded in 1080 by the Maltraverso for the Benedictine order, the abbey was originally known by the name of Pratalia (meadows) and was for a long time fundamental for the agricultural maintenance of the Paduan countryside. In 1124 it was aggregated to the Benedictine monastery of Polirone and then became autonomous in 1304. In 1412 it became a commendatory abbey, while in 1448 it passed under the jurisdiction of the abbey basilica of Santa Giustina and joined the Benedictine monastic reform. The entire abbey was rebuilt starting in 1469 and in 1490 the Benedictines added the "church of the Assumption", built to a design by Tullio Lombardo but later radically transformed by Andrea Moroni).
In 1810 the abbey was suppressed. The Napoleonic suppression determined the transfer of the "Polittico di Praglia"[2] by the Renaissance painters Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini to the Pinacoteca di Brera. The abbey was restored in 1834 by Francis I, Emperor of Austria, and "in 1864 an agricultural institute was built in Praglia, the first of its kind created in Italy, later moved to nearby Brusegana, in the former court of Praglia" [3]. Suppressed again in 1867, when the Veneto was united with Italy, it was returned to the Benedictines in 1904. Antonio Fogazzaro set some parts of his novel Piccolo mondo moderno in the abbey. The abbey has become a center of excellence in the field of restoration of ancient books. Interior The church
The apse was built around 1530 by Domenico Campagnola. Inside the walls, the monastery is divided into four cloisters: double, also called the cloister, botanical, hanging and rustic (in which agricultural tools were stored).
The sides of the botanical cloister are made up of alternating red marble and white stone columns, the walls overlooking the garden are decorated in medieval style. It is the entrance cloister of the abbey and is called botanical because it was intended for the cultivation of plants. Along the north side there is a door, called the door of charity, to indicate the destination of the abbey's reception. On the east side there are two doors: one leads to the upper floor and the other to the corridor where the ancient oven is located.
The arches are supported by capitals and four internal corridors connect to the cells where the monks made their profession on the upper floor.
The hanging cloister, where the courtyard rests on four pillars, is built with four inclined planes made to collect rainwater in a large cistern. This cloister is surrounded by the most representative rooms of the life of the monks of the entire monastery: the church, the monumental refectory, the ancient library, the capitulary and the cloister.
Finally, the rustic cloister that occupies the western part of the monastery: the area seems to have contained a large farmyard and around it were stored the tools for cultivating the countryside surrounding the monastery.
Inside the abbey there is a laboratory for the restoration of ancient books, manuscripts and parchments. (Taken from Wikipedia)