ITALIA - Visiting the Tre Fontane Abbey

So…
I've already been here a couple of times, the last of which was a couple of years ago.
I would define it as a real oasis next to one of the main roads of the road arteries that cross the City.
The Via Laurentina is one of those streets that are a crucial transit node for those who have to cross the southern part of Rome and where the Italian way of driving emerges as many travel it daily.
Right on the side of Via Laurentina there is the entrance to the Abbey, you pass under an arch between the walls and arrive at the entrance garden for visitors.






Entrance arch and courtyard view from the entrance.

Quick historical notes: the Abbey of the Three Fountains was completed in 1306 in a place that was called "Acque Salvie" for the two sources of pure water that cross the complex.
Subsequently, the denomination takes the name of "Tre Fontane" (as well as a public park and a sports hall in the area) since it is precisely at the complex still called "Acque Salvie" that tradition has it that the apostle Paul was martyred by beheading and that the head of St. Paul bounced off the ground three times, causing as many sources of water to spring from the three points of contact with the ground.


Map detail.


Just inside the entrance, beneath the main portico of the entrance to the courtyard: representation of St. Bernardo.

The structure has undergone renovations, expansions and many renovations over the course of history, also alternating long periods in which the Church gave that land in lease to private families with consequent loss of interest which led in the long term to an inevitable decline, up to recovery occurred in the "Cistercian Period" with Pope Alexander III.
Today the monks present here live in seclusion and silence, feeding (in theory) on what they cultivate and collect.
Nature, eucalyptus trees, surreal silence while just outside the traffic rushes by.
Inside the complex there is also the Church of S. Maria Scala Coeli, which stands on the place where, according to tradition, the tribune Zeno with his 10,203 soldiers were martyred, sent to death by Diocletian in 298 after having built the great spa.
Here a small chapel was built in ancient times, which then took the name of Santa Maria Annunziata, already attested in the seventh century.
In the Middle Ages the chapel was rebuilt and took on its current name.
The church has an octagonal plan, surmounted by a dome and a lantern.
The facade is completed by a tympanum and an oculus inserted in a lunette; inserted on the left cornice of the façade there is a piece of marble pluteus with an epigraph, dating back to the 9th century. On the architrave of the door, among the Farnese coats of arms, under a small tympanum, the inscription "Scala Cœli" can be read. The interior has three apses with their altars. The one on the right is dedicated to San Zenone and the martyred Roman soldiers. The left apse contains the altar dedicated to St. Bernard and embellished with two columns with Corinthian capitals and an altarpiece by Desiderio de Angelis depicting the scene of the vision of the saint.
Inside is the crypt, with another altar dedicated to San Zenone and martyred Roman soldiers, two very small windows allow a glimpse of a small pagan altar dedicated to the goddess Dia and a corner where, according to tradition, St. Paul was held prisoner before the beheading.


Courtyard, Scala Coeli, sign that invites you to respect silence.



Scala Cœli.

 

Viale del Martirio di San Paolo.


San Paolo al Martirio Church.


Details Church of San Paolo al Martirio.


Structure of the Monastery, seen when going back from Viale del Martirio di San Paolo towards the courtyard

On the left, the entrance to the area where the brewery's production and bottling rooms are also located, obviously in an area of total seclusion and therefore not open to visitors.



Detail of the exit with the gate of the entrance reserved for access to the open Monastery

You can buy various religious objects, but above all beers from the only recognized Italian Trappist brewery.
Amazing chilli pepper dark chocolate, but also plain dark chocolate.
Regarding beers specifically, a beer to be recognized as "authentic Trappist" must strictly comply with these requirements:

- Must be produced by Cistercian Benedictine monks (called, Trappist)

- The manufacturing facility must be within the scope of a monastery

- At least one designated monk must actively participate in the production process or supervise all processes

- Complete absence of profit. The proceeds from the sale of the product must be aimed at the sustenance of the monks, the maintenance of the monastery or intended for specific and identified charitable works.


Beers: in my last visit, in which at least externally an employee gave us the pleasure of seeing the brewery structure at least externally obviously in rigorous silence, I already drank their tripel and the Sinergia '19 which was the first collaboration between Trappist breweries .
It was a Golden Ale
This time I made a small stock of Sinergia ’21, the new collaboration with two sacred monsters like Westmalle and Rochefort.

Sinergia '21:
Sweet notes of honey and caramel on the nose. Lightweight biscuit.
Brown, amber, dark.
Little foam that disappears immediately.
In the mouth, beer with a full and round body, with that finish (mentioned below, which tries to mask the importance of drinking.
Main taste of glucose syrup, seasoned with memories of acacia honey and maple syrup, recalls the entry taste of a "passito" wine
Perfect pairing with candied fruit desserts (such as local panettone).
Taste of créme brulèe.
The finish is of a well accentuated bitterness, which in addition to "drying" the beer and all the importance of the caramel hints that it carries with it until it is swallowed, leaves an important sense of bitterness on the tongue (which invites new small movements of the language as far as it is pervaded).
Complex beer as a whole with the importance of the flavors given by the malts in the initial phase and with an unexpectedly important bitterness that tries to mask a drink that remains soft and enveloping but without ever being cloying.
Let's say that we used weight (malts, caramelized hints) and counter weight (hops, a dry and decisive final bitterness) to try to reach the right balance obviously sought.




Tripel:
Intense gold beer.
Soft and discreet foam.
On the nose, warm notes of spices and malts (bread, honey).
Complex beer in the mouth supported by a full body.
The taste ranges from honeyed hints, of Christmas cake (panettone) and candied fruit at the entrance to the sip, and then offers polite spicy and slightly balsamic notes that precede a closure, as much as possible, dry.
Sweet malt notes echo on the palate.
The balance reached between sweetness and the contribution of hops that give the final dryness to this tripel is certainly facilitated by a lively carbonation and an alcoholic note that hides its warmth well behind the gustatory contributions that gradually emerge, without ever taking the stage.





I have no idea what yield this "report" can have, which is more photographic than anything else, and with a mechanically translated English... I just know that it took me a lot of time to do it.
Sláinte !
Cheers!