PIONA, ABBEY OF

Originally a Benedictine monastery in the Diocese of Como in Lombardy, northern Italy. It was founded by the cluniacs in the first half of the 12th century on a picturesque promontory at the point where the Adda empties into Lake Como and was dedicated to Our Lady and St. nicholas of myra. The solitude of the mountainous site and its distance from the main roads did not favor the numerical growth of the community, which always remained small and was governed, in accord with Cluniac usages, by a prior rather than an abbot. It did, however, have numerous holdings on the banks of the lake and in the hinterland. In 1488, when the practice of commendation was introduced, the abbey was abandoned by the monks. In 1798 the commendation was itself suppressed and the property of the monastery was confiscated by the Cisalpine Republic. Partial restorations were undertaken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1937, the remaining buildings and grounds were given to the cistercian monks of the Casamari Congregation, who used it initially as a residence for the Abyssinian Community. It was abandoned by them shortly thereafter because of the rigors of the climate, and is now the home of Italian Cistercians. The monastery church is an excellent example of 12th-century Lombard Romanesque, while the cloister dates from the 13th century. Adjacent is a courtyard whose Cluniac style porticoes show strong local influences in design.

Bibliography: l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés (Mâcon 1935–39) 2:2286. a. k. porter, Lombard Architecture, 4 v. (New Haven 1915–17) 3:286–289. v. adami, "L'antica abbazia di Piona" Le Vie d'Italia 32 (1926) 341–345. m. zecchinelli, Le tre Pievi (Milan 1951) 197–210.

[i. de piccoli]