REGENERATE YOURSELF IN NATURE AND SILENCE
Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of La Monastica and let yourself be enveloped by the natural sensation of calm and serenity that it instills. Listen to the silence, enjoy the privacy, contemplate its nature and admire its history: everything in this Resort is designed to offer you comfort and well-being.
Every room, every environment is a place suspended in time: it tells of the past while the brightness and elegance it emanates projects into the future, giving you the opportunity to grasp the beauty and truth of the moment, of the now. You can curl up in your room or relax in the gardens or, again, walk towards the stream and the resort's vegetable garden or explore the villages, the cities of art, the spas and the surrounding landscapes: here you will discover the magic of a holiday, a starting point and back, to discover emotions that you will always carry with you. It is the ideal place to reconnect with yourself, recover your balance and leave behind the stress, tension and anxiety of everyday life You will fall asleep watching sunsets tinged with every shade of yellow and red and you will wake up surprised by the landscapes that the soft morning light paints like paintings; in the silence of nature you will rediscover the pleasure of sleeping like children, while in the SPA you will pamper yourself with programs and treatments designed for your well-being and harmony.
THE HISTORY
OF THE MONASTERY AND ITS REBIRTH
The recovery works of the former Monastery of Santa Scolastica, now La Monastica Resort, began in 2005 and involved not only the ancient religious building, but also some public spaces and the paths inside the northern walls of the village.
In fact, we started from the idea of restoring, not only to the convent, but also to the small historic center, the integrity that had been lost and of recovering as much as possible its original architectural design and atmosphere.
The ancient Buona Cura road which you travel from the car park, arriving from the provincial road 29 Colligiana, to get to Piazza Pretorio, and which was completely abandoned and invaded by rubble and debris, has also been restored. Without affecting the traces of the past, the La Monastica company has taken steps to restore the viability of other routes, to create parking spaces, to rebuild a large part of the walls, to install street lighting, etc.
Before starting the work, important research and documentation work was carried out at various Tuscan and national archives. There has been no shortage of difficulties because often over the centuries the walls of the civil buildings (the original fortification of the "da Buggiano" dates back to the 11th century) have intertwined or overlapped with those of the religious buildings and the first available cadastral plan is from 1789 Furthermore, over the centuries starting from its foundation in the 16th century, the former monastery was the subject of several transformations until the last one, in 1907, carried out by the architect Pacini, who expanded the church and created the external loggia.
The recovery operation was therefore complex and often tiring. It required passion, patience and many skills. As far as possible, original elements have been restored and used, from the wood to the ceilings, and even the decorations have been created by recovering the ancient colours.
The most authentic materials possible were chosen and specialized workers and craftsmen were entrusted, all always with the utmost respect for the constraints expressed by the Superintendence of Fine Arts. Today La Monastica is a Resort which, maintaining its original spiritual charm, inspires a profound sense of balance and well-being and, thanks to its nature, offers a regenerating and relaxing holiday from the tensions of everyday life.
1517
the Buggiano Community Council decides on the construction of a women's monastery
1550-1600 c.a.
construction of the Monastery
1610
onwards, from the internal registers it can be deduced that a good part of the nuns and novices of the Monastery of Santa Scolastica were of high social extraction and that with their dowry they contributed, not only to the support of expenses, but also to the purchase of land and of other properties
1633
construction of the well currently part of the underground route
1690
first expansion of the internal garden which then continues to its current size
1735-1738
the terraces and works are carried out to prepare the vegetable garden for cultivation
1761
construction of a conduit that brings water directly from the well to the Convent
1771
construction of the steps that still connect the nine terraces of the garden today
1786-1808
the Convent passed under the jurisdiction of the Benedictine monks of the nearby Badia
1808
the Monastery is abandoned
1816
the Monastery is sold at auction within a lot of other monastic properties, the Monastery was purchased by the Magnani family
1866-1876
the Monastery becomes the summer residence of Canon Pellicci of the Pescia Cathedral
1877
the Convent was entrusted to the Friars Minor of the Custody of Saint Joseph
1878-1881
expansion works are carried out and new cells and the novitiate are built
1907
the architect Ferdinando Pacini was entrusted with the task of carrying out the expansion of the Church, the construction of the loggia and the construction of the turret
1912
the convent is abandoned by the friars
1915-1976
the Monastery was entrusted to the Benedictine nuns of Santa Giustina di Lucca and subsequently abandoned
1977-2003
the Monastery remains closed
BREATHE THE ENERGY OF THE EARTH
**La Monastica is considered by many to be an energetic place, capable of transmitting a profound sensation of balance and positivity. **
According to some, this could also depend on the passage in the vicinity of the famous San Michele line, perhaps the most powerful of the ley lines that cross our planet and which, in an ideal straight line, connects the most important places of worship dedicated to the Archangel Michael : Skellig Michael in Ireland, Mount St. Michael in Cornwall, Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, the Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont, the basilica of San Michele in Puglia, the monastery of San Michele on the island of Simi in Greece and the Mt. Carmel in Jerusalem. Perhaps for this reason, the Abbey in Piazza Pretorio, built in 1038, was originally also named after San Michele.
Trying to find out more, we had some research done and according to some findings inside the Monastery there are two points where the energy flow is particularly intense (the intensity is measured with a specific instrument, the Bovis biometer).
In these two points, which you will find signposted inside the Church and the SPA, the Earth's vital energy radiates with greater intensity, infusing positive effects on a physical and psychological level. In practice, it would seem that the primordial vibrations of the Earth enter into harmony with our chakras, awakening their energy, helping to counteract the loss of positivity due to an unbalanced lifestyle or stress. To remember this profound connection, for the hall area we chose a painting entitled to the Archangel Michael painted by the artist Andrea Mattiello.
