The Marche is dotted with about a hundred abbeys, often within walking distance of each other. In this route you can find the most important abbeys open to the public, that tell the story of the proud Middle Ages of this region.

Visiting an abbey is a unique occasion for knowledge and meditation: among the many records held by the Marche is the fact that it was one of the first geographical areas in the Italian peninsula to accept the phenomenon of Monasticism, a spiritual movement born in the East in the 3rd century AD and which spread to the West as early as the 6th century. This was mainly due to the charismatic personality of St. Benedict of Nursia whose “Rules” represent the first written constitution of Monasticism and are based on the dignity of work and the sanctity of prayer. These gave rise to a new way of life that was to enjoy enormous popularity in Europe and would become one of the pillars in the formation of Western civilisation.

Thanks to the easily travelled valley routes between the Foglia and the Tronto rivers, as early as the 7th and 8th centuries monasteries and convents began springing up in the Marche, often at a short distance from one another, along the routes travelled by the first pilgrims heading for Rome, called “Romei”.