CHIARAVALLE. — A place-name recalling the great French abbey of Clara Vallis, Clairvaux (q.v.), which was given to several localities in Italy where Cistercian monasteries or abbeys arose. The principal ones are as follows:
1. **C. DELLA COLOMBA.** — The foundation of the monastery of S. Maria C. della Colomba, in the diocese of Piacenza, dates to 3 May 1137. After restorations carried out in 1916–20, the church has resumed its original appearance. Characteristic of the façade is the contrast between the brick wall (as in other churches of the Order built in Italy) and the stone decorations. The interior, in the usual three-aisled scheme divided by cruciform piers, contains no notable works of art. The great cloister was rebuilt in a period later than the first half of the 12th century, as attested by the presence of capitals of various types—some with simple water-leaf motifs and others figurative—and above all by the ornamentation of the bases, already showing Gothic influence. A more pronounced Gothic style appears in the chapter house, both in its structure and in its decorative elements, particularly in the two large triforia recently reopened. Adjoining it is an octagonal chapel with remains of frescoes, including a 14th-century Crucifixion.
2. **C. DI FIATRA.** — The Cistercian abbey of S. Maria de Flastris or de Villa Magna, in the diocese of Macerata, was entrusted in 1141 by Marquis Guerrerio III to the abbey of C. Milanese. The church, built in Cistercian forms, has a façade with a large central rose window preceded by a portico resembling a narthex, with a central door and four triforia, two on each side. The interior, divided by piers with interesting capitals into three aisles and eight bays with round arches, has the central nave covered by a trussed roof except in the first bay, the only one where a ribbed vault was constructed. The transept has a central chapel flanked by four smaller ones, two on each side. On the rear wall of the choir is a rose window with a quadrilobed central circle from which eight small columns radiate. On the right side of the church is the cloister (14th–15th c.).
3. **C. DI FONTEVIVO.** — The Cistercian abbey of Fons vivus or Fontana viva, in the diocese of Parma, founded in 1142 and colonized by the abbey of C. della Colomba.
4. **C. MARCHE.** — The monastery of S. Maria in Castagnola C., in the diocese of Senigallia, was erected on 14 January 1147. A church on the same site as the present one, in the province of Ancona, is recorded as early as 1029 in the Camaldolese annals; it was then remodeled in 1125. When the Cistercians transferred there, it was incorporated into the new building, as attested by the structural and decorative differences in some parts and the asymmetry of the aisles. This rebuilding of the church, dedicated to the Virgin under the title of S. Maria di Castagnola, is thought to have occurred just before the construction of the abbey of Fossanova (q.v.) and marks the appearance of Gothic architecture in the Marches. In 1688 Cardinal F. Chigi rebuilt the portico and reinforced the characteristic tower rising above the transept. The entire building is of brick masonry, except for the portal and some capitals belonging to the pre-existing Romanesque church. The interior contains no notable works of art, but is impressive for the grandeur of its masses, the clear organic lines, and its sense of ascent.
