Abbey of Sant'Eutizio (Preci)

The history of the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio

According to tradition, the first nucleus was the work of Spes, a hermit of Syrian origin. Around the middle of the 5th century, in this valley, Spes and other hermits built an oratory dedicated to the Virgin. On the death of Spes, around 510, leadership of the community passed to his disciple Eutizio. He built the church over the oratory and laid the remains of Spes there. Eutizio died in 540 and the monastery took his name. Monastic life in the valley predated the Benedictine Rule, and the complex is remembered as one of the places linked to the spiritual formation of Saint Benedict of Norcia.

In the following centuries the abbey received privileges and donations, and the support of the Lombard kings and dukes favored its expansion. In 1115 the fief of Sant'Eutizio owned 35 churches across the territories of Spoleto, Ascoli and Teramo. From the 13th to the 18th century the monks promoted a school of surgery centered in Preci. In 1599, under the commendatory abbot Giacomo Crescienzi, major structural works were carried out. The church reopened for worship in 1956. In 1989 the complex became a house of hospitality and prayer, run by a small community of monks.

The cemetery and the bell tower stood on the rocky spur that towers over the abbey. With the earthquakes of October 2016 the spur collapsed, taking the bell tower and part of the cemetery with it. The church was almost completely destroyed.

What to see at the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio

Before the earthquake the church had an original facade, attributed to Mastro Pietro, with a Romanesque portal and a rose window in the Spoleto Romanesque style. The interior had a single nave with a wooden truss roof and a raised presbytery. Under the presbytery was the crypt, divided into two aisles by two sturdy columns. The furnishings also included the funerary monument of Sant'Eutizio, attributed to Rocco di Tommaso (1514), and a 16th-century wooden choir from the workshop of the Seneca family of Piedivalle.

The museum held works and liturgical objects from the abbey and a collection of ancient surgical instruments, recalling the medical tradition of Preci. The caves where Eutizio and Fiorenzo withdrew were carved into the rocky spur that towers over the abbey, where the bell tower was later built.

The rose window, reassembled from the original fragments, was put back on the facade on December 12, 2025; at the beginning of 2026 the facade was nearly complete and the works had reached the crypt. The recovery project also includes the restoration of the artworks, among them the altar and the tomb of Saints Eutizio and Spes.

How to visit the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio

The complex is severely damaged and under reconstruction, so free access to the church cannot be taken for granted. In 2019, on the third anniversary of the earthquake, the abbey courtyard reopened for a prayer event, for the first time since October 30, 2016.

The recovery of the church is entrusted to the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia. Works started in December 2022 from the apse, because the facade area, below the cliff to be consolidated, was still at risk. At the beginning of 2026 the church was expected to be returned to worship within the year, while the monastery and the cliff with the bell tower will need a few more years. The reconstruction follows the principle "where it was, as it was," with an earthquake-resistant structure. Before traveling, check access conditions and the guided tours available.

Where the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio is located

The abbey lies a short distance from Preci, in an isolated area of great scenic value. It stands on a high cliff overlooking the Valle Castoriana, in the Valnerina near Perugia, at Piedivalle. Norcia is the nearest of the area's main towns.

Around the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio

The village of Preci is the natural next stop. Its name first appears in a document of 1232. The village is crossed by narrow lanes climbing to the main square, home to the Pieve di Santa Maria, built in the 13th century by the monks of Sant'Eutizio. The Gothic portal, from the 14th century, is plain. In the second half of the 13th century the castle was built to protect the village.

More monastic sites can be found on the page dedicated to the abbeys and monasteries of the Sibillini.