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Hermitage of Montesiepi
Next to the famous Abbey of San Galgano

Hermitage of Montesiepi Next to the famous Abbey of San Galgano "The sword in the Stone"

Location San Galgano - 53012 Chiusdino SI - Italy

RELIGIONS Catholic

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIGIOUS SITE

DESCRIPTION
The Hermitage of Montesiepi is a church with a circular plan, also called Rotonda, which covers and preserves the famous sword in the rock. It was built after the death of San Galgano, where he had lived for many years in prayer and had put his sword into the rock to turn it into a cross and dedicate himself to prayer. It is located in the complex of the great Cistercian Abbey of San Galgano, located about thirty kilometers from Siena, in the municipality of Chiusdino, famous for being without upper cover. The Hermitage, built around 1200, is also famous for its evocative pagan symbols, including the circular plan typical of ancient pagan temples of Roman times, clear signs of medieval religious syncretism. The structure has always been particularly linked to the Templars and that is why it is thought to be, even today, one of the hypothetical hiding places of the Graal.
HISTORICAL RELEVANCE
Of San Galgano, owner of the place that is celebrated on December 3rd, we know that he died in 1181 and that, after a disordered youth, thanks to the apparitions of San Michael Archangel, he retired to a hermit's life to give himself to penance, with the same intensity with which he had first given to debauchery. The climax of the conversion took place on Christmas Day in 1180, when Galgano, on the hill of Montesiepi, stuck his sword into the ground, in order to turn the weapon into a cross; in fact, in the Rotonda there is a boulder whose fissures sprout a hilt and a segment of a sword corroded by years and rust, now protected by a Plexiglas case. The sword was subjected to metallographic examinations which confirmed its authenticity as a weapon prior to the twelfth century. By the will of the bishop of Volterra Ugo Saladini in the place of San Galgano’s death a chapel was built around 1185. The bishop who succeeded him, Ildebrando Pannocchieschi, promoted the construction of a real monastery instead. In the last years of his life Galgano had come into contact with the Cistercians and it was they who were called to found the first community of monks who was already active in 1201. The Lorenzetti Chapel, built later, shows several frescoes, including the particular one of the "Madonna with three hands" in fact the Madonna with the child in the center of the representation holds Jesus in two hands but has a third hand holding a stick, the reason for this error being still a mystery today.
INTER-RELIGIOUS RELEVANCE
At the entrance of the Rotonda four figures protrude from the cornice: heads of bearded men and animals full of meanings in the highly symbolic and mystic Middle Ages, deriving from the syncretism of the pagan, Lombard and early Christian traditions as they are found in the churches of the Tuscan countryside . Also the dome, made up of concentric circles, brings back to a pagan symbolism, being like a circular plan like the ancient temples; the surrounding forest itself also recalls emotionally and spiritually, a Celtic / Etruscan altar. According to some research, the building is a great calendar for the observation of solar phenomena, and the loopholes serve to reveal the phenomena of light that occur on the occasion of the two Solstices and Equinoxes. In fact, every June 21st the first and last rays of the summer solstice, penetrating through the openings, hit the precise points of the central chapel until the sword is illuminated exactly.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
It also seems that the location of the Hermitage is within the line of St. Michael, an imaginary line that would combine all the holy places dedicated to the worship of the Archangel, from the Rock of St. Michael in Ireland to the Monastery of Mount Carmel in Haifa in Israel, obviously passing from the Sanctuary on Mount Gargano in Puglia.
HOW TO USE WITH THE STUDENTS
As to use :
The legend of the Sword in the Rock lends itself to research activities in the class on the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table.
Legend can be intersected with the life of San Galgano, also known as Galgàno Guidotti (Chiusdino, 1148/1152 circa - Chiusdino, 30 November 1181). He was a medieval knight and an Italian saint who lived in Tuscany in the 12th century, who chose to live as a hermit.

The videos and photos of the hermitage of Montesiepi and San Galgano will aid in the narrative and figurative reconstruction of the legend.
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.