The former Monastery of Santa Scolasticawill soon become a resort designed for those who want to live an experience of relaxation and well-being wrapped in the fascinating atmosphere of a place rich in history. Nothing here is left to chance. Theancient wallsstill emanate the primitive feeling of energy and protection and the interior environments respect, wherever possible, the original path. Traces of the oldest walls emerge, some dating back to the year 1000.
The rooms,available in different sizes, are always large, equipped with every modern comfort and offer an inestimable view of the terraced garden and Valdinievole. The common areas enhance, through the balance of natural wood and stone, the feelings of quiet and harmony linked to the ancient monastic address.
The blue lapis lazuli, is the common thread and spreads, from the sky of the Church, to decorate with extreme elegance some environments. Entirely renovated and frescoed, fully following the original architecture and decorations, the Church offers, as a leap into the past, an extraordinary vision of the time that has been and its refinement becomes the frame for a space dedicated to catering.
From the matron of the Church you can access one of the most evocative places of the whole village, the loggia that, designed at the beginning of the twentieth century by the architect F.Pacini, offers a rare overview of the entire Valdinievole.
Also from here, from the loggia, as from most of the rooms, you can admire the terraced garden of the Monasteryonce dedicated to the cultivation of medicinal herbs and now rebuilt alternating hedges of aromatic and medicinal plants with pergolas and green and flowered spaces, to offer moments of pure relaxation.
Here, to remember the monastic origins, there is also a small simple apse cell chapel, now perfectly restored, decorated with a Madonna and furnished with the original stone benches. Here, to remember the monastic origins, the structure of the Resort is completed by a small SPA located in the most adjacent to the rock, to ensure silence, the shelter and privacyessential to give the various treatments a deep feeling of harmony and well-being.
The first traces of the Monastery of Santa Scolastica are found in a resolution of 1517 issued by the council of the Community of Buggiano. On that occasion it was decided that the monastery would be built on the remains of the ancient walls of the “Da Buggiano” Castle dating back to the year 1000 and that it would host girls “willing to serve God”. These girls would also be concerned with helping the poor and the sick. As often happens, many original documents have been lost and for some decades there is no reliable news of this religious structure.
Certainly, in 1626 the Monastery was in full swing. This is testified by the different volumes of memories recovered from his archives where the nuns, most of whom were of noble lineage, noted, with extreme accuracy, the entries and exits and also the list of changes made to expand the structure. Indeed, over the centuries, the Monastery of Santa Scolastica has been gradually enlarged to make room for new novices and also to recover space for different activities, including the cultivation of silkworms.
Abandoned in 1808 due to the Napoleonic suppressions, the Monastery was first bought by a local family then, in 1886, came under the ecclesiastical administration, becoming summer residence of the canon of the cathedral of Pescia. Between 1878 and 1881 other important works were carried out that allowed to recover, where before there was only rock, other cells, the refectory and new common areas. Then, in 1907, the architect Pacini was entrusted with the task of enlarging the church, building the loggia overlooking the Valdinievole and building a new small bell tower. Inhabited until 1976 by the Benedictine nuns of Santa Giustina of Lucca, the monastery was then sold to the real estate company that took care of the reconstruction and the splendid renovation in full respect of the constraints expressed by the Superintendence of Fine Arts.
