Abbey of San Lazzaro in Valloncello
To be visited
Localita: Preci
In the area near Preci, on the right handside facing the Castle of Belforte, lies a green valley crossed by a gentle stream, called Valloncello. The stream winds its way across the valley till it reaches a rocky area with a split in the middle, and precipitates through the narrow gorge forming a waterfall called “lu Cunjuntu”.
The Valloncello valley then widens entering the Valley of the Nera and right there, along the river banks and next to a rocky outcrop covered with coppice woods, tradition has it that St. Francis erected "a house" to host and care for people with leprosy who were outcast and forced to withdraw from society.
However, most likely the construction of the abbey and adjoining leper colony should be dated back to after 1218, year in which a “Mr. Rdanza from Roccapazza donated a plot of land to build a church and a hospital for lepers”.
Located in an area well-known for its doctors and surgeons, rich in medicinal flora (digitalis, male fern, centaury, gentian), grazed by large numbers of sheep and goats, blessed with springs and plentiful rivers, the hospital could provide full care and comfort to its guests.
The archives of the Municipality of Norcia of 1342 give us some further information about the hospital, such as the possibility for the patients' families to live with them at the hospital.
The hospital offered to the lepers and their families lodging, medicines and food, including mountain viper meat (to which prodigious virtues were attributed).
There were also sulphurous water springs, which however subsequently dried up due to earthquakes.
In 1490, Pope Innocent VIII decreed the closing of the hospital, as cases of leprosy had been sharply decreasing.
The Church of San Lazzaro al Valloncello and the lepers hospital were entrusted in 1218 to the monks of the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio; in the 14th century they were given in care to the Franciscan Friars Minor; in 1572 they passed to the order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus and were given in commendation to its knights.
Around the 1850s the property passed to the Sorbello family - the deed was signed by Ruggero Borbon Sorbello who in 1914, upon the death of Donna Altavilla Ranieri, sold it to the Betti Massi families of Poggio di Croce and Belforte. Shortly thereafter the property was restructured and turned into a private housing complex with adjoining farm shed.
Presently part of the structure is used as an agritourism, still enjoying a genuine environment and extraordinary scenery, such as the nearby waterfall "de lu Cunjuntu".
Little remains of the ancient Abbey: the two original naves covered by ogival cross vaults with ribs converging on a central cylindrical pillar and a small room used as an oratory with the altar surmounted by a 17th century canvas depicting the "Madonna with Child and Saints" are still recognizable.
Lu Cunjuntu waterfalls
Starting from San Lazzaro in Valloncello, a short walk up the valley along the course of the stream will lead to the base of the picturesque waterfall called Lu Cunjuntu (from coniunctus, meaning “hydraulic conduit” in medieval jargon) formed by the drainage water from the upper basin falling from a split in the rocky cliff to the ravine down below.
For further information: https://www.iluoghidelsilenzio.it/abbazia-lebbrosario-di-san-lazzaro-in-valloncello-preci/
