Abbey of San Benedetto in Alpe

San Benedetto in Alpe is a small village in the Apennines, in the upper Montone valley, where a Benedictine abbey existed from the Early Middle Ages onwards - wealthy and powerful, controlling the road between Romagna and Florence. Few parts of the medieval building remain, alongside the church rebuilt in the 18th century.

Dante mentions the abbey in Canto XVI of the Inferno, comparing the roar of an infernal river to that of the Acquacheta 'sovra San Benedetto de l'Alpe', the waterfall that plunges just above the village. According to tradition, the poet, in exile, was a guest of the monks.

The restored rooms of the abbey were reopened to the public in 2017. The village is now the starting point for the path to the Acquacheta waterfall, one of the most beautiful walks in the Foreste Casentinesi National Park: about two hours each way, with uphill sections.

Wear hiking boots and bring water, and if you can, go in spring when the waterfall is at its fullest. On the way back, a stop in Portico di Romagna completes your Dantean day.