Abbey of San Guglielmo al Goleto
The Abbey of San Guglielmo al Goleto is a Benedictine monastery in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, province of Avellino, region of Campania Italy.
The monastery was founded by Saint William of Vercelli in the year 1114.[1] It was started as a female cloister, with a small attached monastery for the spiritual guidance and economic assistance of the nuns.[2]
The period 1135-1515 was known as the "Age of the Nuns."[1] The cloister became wealthy from 1135 to 1348 until the black death struck and the cloister began to decline.[2] On January 24, 1506, Pope Julius II declared that, upon the death of the last abbess, the cloister would be closed, which occurred in 1515.[2]
The age of the nuns was followed by the "epoch of the monks" from 1515 to 1807.[1] When the cloister closed, the monastery merged with that on Montevergine and began to grow.[2] Pope Sixtus V, who was also superior of the Franciscan Convent of S. Angelo dei Lombardi, accelerated this growth.[2] The monastery reached its peak between the mid-seventeenth century and the mid-eighteenth century.[2]
In 1807, the king of Naples, Joseph Bonaparte, ordered the Abbey closed. St. William's body was moved to Montevergine and the furnishings of the abbey were looted.[1]
The abbey remained abandoned until 1973 when a monk of Montevergine, Lucio M. De Marino, obtained permission to relocate to Goleto, reoccupying the abbey and beginning its restoration.[1][2]
In 1989, the Abbey was entrusted to the Little Brothers of Jesus.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e "La storia dell'Abbazia del Goleto". Official web site. Abbazia dei Goleto. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "The Abbey of Goleto". Little Brothers of Jesus. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.