Holiday apartment in Abbadia San Salvatore – Abbey, mountain forest and mining

Abbadia San Salvatore combines impressive traces of the past with paths through mountain forests and unique festival traditions. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Abbadia San Salvatore, you can spend your days exploring the historic town centre, mining history, nature and regional cuisine.

Abbey and squares in the historic centre

The Abbazia di San Salvatore stands in the historic centre of Abbadia San Salvatore. The monastery complex was founded in 743 by the Lombard King Ratchis. The complex includes a Romanesque church with frescoes and works of art, a cloister and an abbey museum with historical and archaeological finds.

The crypt of the Abbazia di San Salvatore is also noteworthy: It probably dates from the 7th century and has 32 columns with intricately carved capitals. At Piazza Santa Croce, the Chiesa di Santa Croce was consecrated by Abbot Rolando in 1221. The former Palazzo del Podestà also stands there; it served as the former courthouse of Castel di Badia.

In the recently reconstructed east wing of the abbey, the Museo Arte Sacra displays numerous reliquaries made of gilded wood, a gilded bronze bust of Pope Mark, a chasuble attributed to him and a Scottish-Irish reliquary from the 7th or 8th century.

Mining history and forest trails

The Parco Museo Minerario di Abbadia San Salvatore documents mercury mining in the mines of Abbadia San Salvatore from 1899 to 1972. Underground, the Galleria Livello VII displays mining faces containing cinnabar and explains the development of mining work systems from the 1920s to the 1950s.

The signposted Percorso della Miniera, approximately 4.3 kilometres long, takes around 50 minutes. It passes former mining sites, the Laghetto Verde viewpoint, the old chimney and the powder magazine before returning to Abbadia San Salvatore. The Percorso del Capomacchia, on the other hand, leads through the centuries-old beech forest and reaches an altitude of 1,530 metres, a few hundred metres from the mountain summit.

For cyclists, a cycle tour from Abbadia San Salvatore to the Vetta del Monte Amiata leads through chestnut woods and the impressive beech forest. A variant of the Via Francigena reaches Abbadia San Salvatore by branching off from stage 36 between San Quirico and Radicofani.

Traditions, chestnuts and mushrooms

The tradition of the Fiaccole is renewed every year on 24 December. For this occasion, pyramid-shaped wood piles up to seven metres high are erected in each terziere of the medieval town. The Festa d’Autunno takes place on the second and third weekends of October in the medieval centre of Abbadia San Salvatore.

At the Festa d’Autunno, food stalls offer roasted chestnuts and mushrooms, as well as dishes such as chestnut polenta, castagnaccio and mushroom preparations. This also gives the choice of a holiday apartment a concrete connection to your personal interests: You can focus on historical sites, mining, forest trails or seasonal festival traditions.

Guidance for planning your trip

The IAT of Abbadia San Salvatore provides information about transport, opening hours, local routes, accessibility, historical, artistic and natural resources, as well as events. This guidance helps you align your accommodation and daily planning with the experiences that particularly interest you in Abbadia San Salvatore.

More destinations to discover

You can discover more destinations independently here: Mensano, Montegabbro, Vagliagli, San Gimignano, Gaiole In Chianti, San Casciano Dei Bagni, Fonterutoli, Monteroni D'arbia.

To the overarching travel overview: Siena.