San Benedetto in Alpe

The town of San Benedetto is located at the foot of the Muraglione Pass. The history of San Benedetto, as the name suggests, is linked to the Benedictine Abbey, one of the oldest in the Apennines. Some hermits had already settled here in the 10th century and, about a century later, Saint Romuald stopped here before founding Camaldoli. Dante stayed in these places during his exile and poetically described them in the Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XVI).


The decline of the Abbey began at the end of the 14th century, when it passed under the administration of the Basilica of San Lorenzo of Florence. Today in the charming old Mill (where the mills of the ancient abbey were located) there is the Visitors’ Centre of the National Park of the Casentino Forests.


Around the abbey, at the confluence of the small rivers of Acquacheta and Rio Destro, grew the village of Biforco and, down the valley where the mills of the monastery were located, the village of Mulino.


In the Middle Ages the village was a feud of the Counts Guidi from Modigliana, while in 1440, as free commune, passed under the rule of Florence.
The decadence of the abbey began in the 14th century and in 1723 it was demolished to build a new one with a single nave.
Of the ancient abbey can be seen a part of the crypt, the remains of the cloister with the well once in the middle, the cloister portal, the defence tower and the monks’ cells.


Not to be missed is an excursion to the Acquacheta Waterfall, in the heart of the National Park of the Casentino Forests, which can be reached through a pathway on the banks of the river taking to the top of the waterfall sung by Dante.

To have tourist informations

Address: Portico e San Benedetto
Telephone number: Iat Office +39.0543.967047
Fax: +39.0543.967243

Email: info@comune.portico-e-san-benedetto.fc.it  
Sito WEB: www.comune.portico-e-san-benedetto.fc.it

Altitude: 554 mslm
Inhabitants: 320 inhabitants

How to get there

From Forlì highway exit San Benedetto is 50 km, from Forlì railway station and airport is 48 km. San Benedetto is located at 11 km from Portico and 7 km from Bocconi.

Other news

The Visitors’ Centre of the Casentino Forests is a good starting point for many excursions on foot, by bike or on horseback.