PIONA

It was a Cluniac abbey of the 12th century, later passing into commendam. The church was dedicated in 1138 by the bishop of Como, Ardizzone, to the Blessed Virgin Mary and was therefore named S. Maria di P.; later it was rededicated to St Nicholas. In the apse there remain traces of frescoes; at the base of the holy water stoup are two lions that were part of the ancient ambo. Of the original bell tower only the base remains, while the upper part dates from 1700; attached is the cloister with a quadriportico and small columns with artistic capitals. It was commissioned between 1252 and 1257 by the prior Bonaccorso da Canova of Gravedona, as indicated by two inscriptions. Behind the apse there survive ruins of a pre-existing oratory, thought by some to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and by others to St Justina the martyr. Everything was secularized by the French Revolution under the law of 8 May 1798, with the exception of the church and cloister, which, however, were abandoned in 1861 and restored only from 1906 to 1909. Since 1938 Cistercian monks sent from Casamari have resided there.