L' Abbazia S. Felice di Giano

[ 1 page, 4 photos ]

From most angles, the exterior of the abbey is a large graceless hulk of stone masonry; austere and fortresslike is one thing, but the complex has no particular shape, nothing to catch the eye, at least from no side I saw. The church itself is drowned in a mass of functional buildings, and despite the obvious huge cost of the edifice, no attempt seems to have been made to make it readable or attractive.

The fault, however, appears to lie with the 18c rather than the 11c in which the church of S. Felice was built.

[ 2 pages, 12 photos ]

The interior of the church is another matter: austerity and sheer mass are tempered by good proportions and purposive design; and in addition to the monumental upper church, a crypt provides a more intimate, human space. The success of the interior is enhanced by dozens of carved capitals.

[ 1 page, 1 plan, 2 photos (and 19 more at your choice) ]

The cloister is yet a third type of space altogether, designed to be the center of the monks' contemplative life, where the body is at rest and the mind is encouraged to remember examples of Christian piety and solid theology.