The village of Montetiffi forms part of a 1400-hectare area recognized as a Site of Community Importance for the presence of numerous places of natural, historical and artistic interest.  The village is perched atop a high cliff, together with the age-old Abbazia di San Leonardo, an 11th-century abbey donated by the inhabitants of Montetiffi to Benedictine monks.  The abbey is one the most important Romanesque structures in Emilia-Romagna in terms of age and beauty.  The interior contains several old works of art:  14th-century frescoes from the school of Rimini, a baptismal font from the 17th and inscriptions from the 14th centuries.  The quadrangular bell tower is 21 meters tall.

Above all, Montetiffi is known for its “tegliai”, producers of special ceramic pans for baking the typical flatbread of Romagna, the “piadina”.  The village is the only place in Italy where the time-honored tradition of producing “teglie” is still carried out according to strictly artisanal methods.

The rooms of the former clergy house of the abbey today host the “Museo Agostino Venanzio Reali – Arte e poesia,” an exhibit of over 100 works, including paintings, drawings and objects in terracotta, which were collected by Venanzio Reali (1931-1994), a friar from Ville Montetiffi.  This unique “artist of the faith” was a Biblical scholar, painter, poet and sculptor.

Timetable

Saturday 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Sunday 2:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m..

Summer opening hours:  Saturday 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. and Sunday 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Informazioni

For visits and reservations outside of opening hours, please call 0541- 940708 or 339-1671523 at least 3 days prior to the tour.