# Aerial view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, Italian]() - Date: 1301-1350 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The Chiaravalle Abbey is a Cistercian monastery officially founded in 1135 by a group of monks from the Abbey of Citeaux in France. It is one of the earliest examples of Gothic architecture in Italy, notwithstanding its Romanesque and late Romanesque elements. The construction of the present church began in the 1150s and lasted until 1221 when the church dedicated to St. Mary was consecrated. During the 13th century, the work continued for building the first cloister, located south of the church. Later, in the 14th century, the crossing tower by Francesco Pecorari and the refectory were realized. The construction of the Great Cloister was started in 1490 by Bramante and Giovanni Antonio Amadeo. During the Renaissance period many painters and artists worked in the abbey. The complex of the Abbey is constituted by the abbey church, with cloisters and monastery, the chapel of San Bernardo and the mill. The only remaining traces of the original 13th-century cloister is the north side adjacent to the church and two bays. The Chapel of San Bernardo is the small 15th-century building that is located to the left of the entrance tower of the Abbey of Chiaravalle. The crossing tower \(bell tower\) or Ciribiciaccola – a name taken from a popular nursery rhyme in Milanese dialect – rises up starting from the lantern, at a height of 9 metres, with two octagonal sections, which later assumes a conical shape. From here to the end of the cross, positioned on a world map, it reaches a height of 56 metres. The bell tower houses the oldest Ambrosian-mounted bell system that is still manually operated by the Cistercian monks. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Apse of a basilica]() - [Arsenale Gateway]() - [Arsenale Gateway]() - [Basilica di Sant'Antonio: Chiostro del Noviziato]() - [Basilica Santi Nereo e Achilleo]() - [Ca' Foscari: Façade]() - [Chamber of the millers]() - [Chiesa dell'Incoronata: Interior of the dome]() - [Cloister gallery]() - [Detail of the façade]() - [Detail of the façade]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()