While you’re in the area, you’ll be sure to want to visit the famous Cistercian Abbey of San Galgano! Or at least what is left of it, since the roof fell in after the belltower was struck by lightning in 1786. The hermitage and abbey are now open as a tourist attraction.
In the hermitage you can see the famous sword in the stone: legend has it that one Christmas night in the 12th century, Saint Galgano himself thrust the sword into a crack in the rock to form a cross, symbolising his conversion. But whether or not the legend is true, the Abbey is well worth visiting for its impressive, majestic walls, standing out in contrast with the missing roof. Sunlight and shadow form artistic effects on the walls due to the presence of open spaces where the abbey’s rose window and stained-glass windows were once located.