Sant'Andrea in Flumine

A short distance from the village of Ponzano-Romano stands the Abbey of Sant’Andrea in Flumine. Of similar architectural style to the carolingian abbey of Lorsch in Germany, it is surrounded by a fortified wall. It is thought to have been built by the Benedictines for Carlomanno, brother of Pepin the Short, who had retired here for spiritual contemplation. On a strategic rise dominating the valley between Mt Soratte and the Tiber, the abbey is Romanesque in style: the interior has three naves with columns and half-columns in granite and with ionic and corinthian capitals; the floor is cosmatesque marble.