14 – I look about me. Stones are scattered on the ground and amongst the grass - most probably remains from old collapsed walls. These signs left by time, do not however, detract anything from the awesome beauty of the place.
Brother Giovanni looks at me, and takes up the subject again as he says, “Do you remember how your attention was drawn by the two different apses, when you arrived at Sant’Antimo? Well, from this first abbey of the 7th century, called the Carolingian chapel, that old apse now remains visible on the outer side. Internally it forms a single rectangular nave. The roof, now groin-vaulted, originally must have had simple wooden trusses. Monochrome frescoes by Giovanni d’Asciano (15th century) cover the walls and depict the life of Saint Benedict. It is now used as a sacristy, to which one enters by a door found along the ambulatory on the southern side of the church.”
15 – My guide gets up and walks towards an entrance where the steps in front of it go down to a lower level than that of the cloister plane.
“Come,” he says, “ I want to show you another architectonic masterpiece: the Carolingian crypt! You may consider yourself very fortunate to be able to visit this crypt, because as a norm, the crypt, the sacristy, and the matroneum are not accessible to tourists.”
I follow him, as I try to accustom my eyes to the semi-darkness that envelops the little hall. “This underground crypt has two apses exactly opposite each another. One stands on the eastern side, with a little bull’s eye to provide some light, and corresponds to that of the upper church, while the other consists in an ordinary semicircular niche, to be found on the western side. Four re-used colonettes surmounted by capitals, which are inverted truncated pyramids, support the vault, dividing the space into three tiny naves. In this little crypt, not open to tourists, the brothers still come to pray and to meditate in its idyllic and silent atmosphere.”
16 – We leave the crypt, to find ourselves again in the sunlit cloister. Brother Giovanni, raising one arm, calls my attention to what now remains of a beautiful tri-lobed window. “Also this triple lancet window from the 8th century, dates back to the latter period of this abbey. As you can see, one capital is completely unadorned, without any decoration, whereas the other one is decorated with eight palm leaves and a woven geometrical design. This window belongs to the chapter hall.”
He stops, and then asks me, “Do you know why the chapter hall bears that name?” I cough a bit, and stare into space.
With a particular expression on his face, the brother decides to help me, and explains, “In his Rule, Saint Benedict admonishes the monks to read daily one chapter of it. As time went by, the hall where a chapter of the Rule was thus read, took on the name of ‘chapter’ hall. Today all the professed members of the community (also named ‘the Chapter’) assemble there. It is a characteristic feature of the Regular Canons to keep a daily reunion in the chapter hall, diversifying from the other Orders who meet only occasionally. In the chapter hall, the martyrology is read, followed by the reading of a chapter from the Rule of Saint Augustine, and lastly, information on problems relating to the day’s work is then exchanged.”