The Sword in the Stone

In Chiusdino, in the province of Siena, there is an ancient Cistercian abbey.

The site consists of the old hermitage (called “Montesiepi Rotonda”) and the great abbey, of which only the skeleton of the walls remains.

The hermitage is dedicated to the legendary San Galgano (1148-1181) who after his noble birth, led a youthful life devoted to vice and lust, and after two otherworldly appearances, converted to a deeply religious life, becoming hermit and adopting an asceticlife withthe same intensity with which he had previously practiced every kind of debauchery. The culminating moment of his religious life was on Christmas Day in 1180 when he struck his sword into the ground on the hill of Montesiepi, transforming the former weapon into a symbol of the cross. His sword still remains today, stuck in a rock, ruined by years of neglect and time, and now protected by a sheet of Plexiglas.
It is believed that this sword gave birth to the legend of The Sword in the Stone.

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