Located right on the outskirts of Castelfranco but fortunately remained isolated and surrounded by the green of olive trees and vines, today the complex of the Badia di San Salvatore a Soffena constitutes an extraordinary visiting card for those who arrive in the village from via di Setteponti. The complex consists of the Church, the cloister and the convent.
The Abbey is already mentioned in a document of 1014. In 1090 with a papal bull of Urban II, it was entrusted to the Vallombrosani monks along with other possessions. In 1394 the church was completely rebuilt, as evidenced by today's architectural features of the Gothic style. In the first decades of the 1700s, however, the Abbey went into rapid decline; it was in fact destined for agricultural use with consequent dispersion of the artistic artefacts and damage to the frescoes. After 1960 the state bought the property and began the reconstruction work; he removed the frescoes (which had been damaged by hammer blows), restored the roof, restored the cloister to its ancient shape and arranged the interior of the church and the bell tower.
The church has a Latin cross plan with a square apse. Coverage is sometimes cross vaults. The frescoes inside the church, from the 1400s, are by artists such as Paolo Schiavo, the Master Liberato da Rieti, Bicci di Lorenzo. Of particular value is "The Annunciation" by Masaccio's brother Giovanni di Ser Giovanni known as Lo Scheggia. Renovation works are currently underway for the construction of an archive, library and museum of archaeological finds found during excavations in 1991.
FROM THE SITE OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CASTELFRANCO DI SOPRA