Abbey of Morimondo

Construction on the Abbey of Morimondo (an example of Cistercian architecture that had already evolved into the Gothic style) began in 1182 and wasn't completed until 1296.

Founded by a group of monks who came to Morimondo from France in 1134, the complex is built around the cloister, the heart of the monastery, a place of community life and the centre of the monastic citadel. In fact, all of the other spaces are connected to the cloister: the abbey church, the chapter house (where the monks gathered to discuss and make important decisions), the refectory and scriptorium.

When seen from the east and the south, the monastery (restored to its former glory after the restoration was completed in 2008) looks like an imposing four storey building:over the chapter house it is still possible to visit the dormitory, originally structured in a single environment. Other beautiful features include the facade, with its wide portal, the rose window, the mullioned windows and the arches.

The Cistercian movement, founded with the aim of realigning monastic life with Benedictine principles, dictated a return to simplicity in song and liturgy and reintroduced manual labour to daily life.

The architecture also assumed simple and functional characteristics, signs of poverty and the essentiality of monastic life that rotates completely around God. In fact, the buildings are sober, the proportions are light and theacousticsmake natural reference to the spiritual reality, with a symbolic language useful for the monk's reflection and prayer.

The austere,traditionally Cistercian environment is enhanced by a fresco by Bernardino Luini, a 15th-century crucifix, a 14th-century holy water font and a wooden choir created in 1522 by Francesco Giramo, an artist from Abbiategrasso.