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St John in Argentella in Palombara Sabina: a Romanesque abbey watched over by its inhabitants
The Abbey of San Giovanni in Argentella is located about 3 km from Palombara Sabina, in the Lazio countryside. Built in yellow tuff and bands of white limestone, it is a Romanesque complex that is looked after by a small lay community. The name "in Argentella" comes from a spring at the bottom of the valley, used since Roman times. Tradition has it that on 24 June, the feast of St John the Baptist, people would come here to bathe.
From Benedictine monks to a new life
The foundation is debated, but the most widely accepted theory places it in the early Middle Ages, at the hands of Benedictine monks. The earliest documents date back to the 10th century. The first oratory was built on the foundations of a Roman building discovered in the 1970s beneath the late-Baroque flooring of the central nave. The current appearance dates to the 12th century, but from 1445 the building suffered a long decline, lasting until 1963, when the Fraternity of Saints Nicholas and Sergius settled above the church, bringing it back to life.
Tuff, Roman capitals and chivalric frescoes
The building features three asymmetrical naves, columns with capitals from the first quarter of the 3rd century, round arches. Above the altar stands the ciborium: four columns with Lombard carvings and arabesque capitals from the 11th–12th century. On the walls are damaged 14th-century frescoes: a procession, a cavalcade of knights and the figure of St William. In 1900 it was declared a National Monument, and today its running is supervised by a citizens' committee.
