Abbey of Piantangeli

The remains of the abbey is located on the slopes of Mount Piantangeli, it remains still visible walls that leave the plant include the ancient building. No trace remains of the town wall instead, but for which you can identify the location, with the outcrop of ceramic finds. The town stood, but always on the same mountain in south-west from the church.

While the church was under investigation in 1974 by the excavation of the Superintendent, the town is known only from surface surveys. At the end of the fourteenth century will be in the hands of the lords of Tolfavecchia. At the same time S. Archangel is on the list of records of tithes (1274 – 1280; 1295 to 1298). The materials recovered up area belong to a period between the VIII / IX – first half XIV.

The church has three naves and apses, the central one is twice the size of those late-ral. The aisles are divided into three bays divided by four half-court on the walls and four central columns. Outside, on the right wall, near the corner of the bottom, clearly visible are the remains of the tower.

The structure appears to be attributable to the twelfth century, however, it is plausible that it is built on a previous system with a single hall. Of particular note are the capitals preserved in the courtyard of the municipal building of Tolfa. The written sources testify to the existence of the monastery in 976, when the abbot of St. Archangel buy some houses and land. It also demonstrated the presence of a castle town, in fact this turns out to be submitted to the municipality of Viterbo in 1061.

Of particular interest are the fragments of “text”, or containers in the form of trays, widely attested

It is likely to consider that, in conjunction with the lack of archaeological data in subsequent periods, the settlement was abandoned.