OUR HISTORY
Monastero del Monte dei Bianchi, a place with a thousand-year history.
MONASTERO FRATI BIANCHI
The first monastery dates back to the 7th century AD. It was built at the behest of Ato, son of Egenio the Longobard, who donated part of his possessions to Father Fratellus and commissioned him to build a center of worship.
A few centuries later, in 1106, Pope Paschal II sent the Benedictine monk Bernardo degli Uberti to these places to meet the descendants of Rodolfo da Casola and the Bosoni della Verrucola. After having listened to the pleas of the two families, he decided to have a new monastery built on the foundations of the previous one and to dedicate it to St. Michael, annexing it to the dominion of the powerful Abazia di Canossa.
The regular canonical friars, also called the White Friars for the color of their habit and also for a certain moral ethics very different from the corruption widespread in the monastic circles of the time, were called to manage the activities.
THE D’HERBERIA FAMILY
Later, the Monastery and the village that grew around it were inherited by the D’Herberia family, originally from Rubiera di Modena.
Here the family moved the administrative center of their activities, keeping the Monastery of St. Michael as a religious center and a noble sepulcher.
The life of the Monastery lasted until around 1500 when the advent of the Malaspina nobles in Lunigiana led to profound changes, including the acquisition of the possessions of the D’Herberia family.
The Parish of Monte dei Bianchi remained the ecclesiastical reference point of the area.
CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE
Over the following centuries the center became well known, not only as a religious place, but also for the quality of its lands and its fervent agricultural activities.
TRADITION AND LOCAL IDENTITY
The typical crops of the hills soon became a symbol and tradition of the area.
Over the centuries, the various parish priests who have lent their spiritual work and guided the local community have also engaged in agricultural activities with the help of sharecroppers and farmers.
CONTACTS
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Monastero dei
Frati Bianchi
Loc. Margine
Monte dei Bianchi, 10
54013 Fivizzano (MS)
TelFax: 058597620
Cell: 3408360807
Email: frati.bianchi@libero.it
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