Monastero delle Trappiste di Vitorchiano
Life in the Trappist Monastery of Vitorchiano is marked by liturgical office and characterized by prayer, contemplation, penance, dedication, and much manual labor, including the cultivation of vines and wine production. The community today consists of 80 nuns of different ages from all over Italy and the world and sustains itself through agricultural work, the production of jams, and the cultivation of gardens, vineyards, and orchards.
In Italy, the history of the Cistercian Order of Strict Observance, better known as the Trappist Order, began in 1875 when the first female monastery was established in San Vito, near Turin. For economic and sustenance reasons, the Trappist nuns moved to Grottaferrata in 1898 and then to Vitorchiano in 1957, where the Monastery is still located today. The territory is that of Alto Lazio, in the province of Viterbo, characterized by a soil rich in magmatic rock known as 'peperino'. The gardens and vineyards were created by the nuns after years of hard work, clearing this wild territory of brambles.
work, clearing this wild territory of brambles.In the Trappist Monastery of Vitorchiano, wine production is artisanal and comes exclusively from the cultivation of the monastery's vineyards using ancient and virtuous methods, without the use of synthetic chemicals or invasive treatments. The work both in the vineyard and in the cellar is inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si' and the advice of the famous winemaker Giampiero Bea, president of the Consorzio Vini Veri and owner of the Montefalco winery Paolo Bea. The wines, according to the nuns, "do not contain additions of substances foreign to the original fruit and the terroir that generated them." From Trebbiano, Malvasia, Verdicchio, and Grechetto grapes, two white wines of great personality are born: Coenobium and Coenobium Ruscum, the latter macerated on the skins for at least 15 days. These are high-level oenological expressions, born from tradition, manual labor, and nature left free to express itself, perfectly embodying the idea of work according to the Cistercian order: “Work, especially manual work, gives us the opportunity to participate in the divine work of creation and redemption. Such work, hard and redemptive, provides sustenance for us and others, especially the poor, and expresses solidarity with all workers”.
Life in the Trappist Monastery of Vitorchiano is marked by liturgical office and characterized by prayer, contemplation, penance, dedication, and much manual labor, including the cultivation of vines and wine production. The community today consists of 80 nuns of different ages from all over Italy and the world and sustains itself through agricultural work, the production of jams, and the cultivation of gardens, vineyards, and orchards.
In Italy, the history of the Cistercian Order of Strict Observance, better known as the Trappist Order, began in 1875 when the first female monastery was established in San Vito, near Turin. For economic and sustenance reasons, the Trappist nuns moved to Grottaferrata in 1898 and then to Vitorchiano in 1957, where the Monastery is still located today. The territory is that of Alto Lazio, in the province of Viterbo, characterized by a soil rich in magmatic rock known as 'peperino'. The gardens and vineyards were created by the nuns after years of hard work, clearing this wild territory of brambles.
work, clearing this wild territory of brambles.In the Trappist Monastery of Vitorchiano, wine production is artisanal and comes exclusively from the cultivation of the monastery's vineyards using ancient and virtuous methods, without the use of synthetic chemicals or invasive treatments. The work both in the vineyard and in the cellar is inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si' and the advice of the famous winemaker Giampiero Bea, president of the Consorzio Vini Veri and owner of the Montefalco winery Paolo Bea. The wines, according to the nuns, "do not contain additions of substances foreign to the original fruit and the terroir that generated them." From Trebbiano, Malvasia, Verdicchio, and Grechetto grapes, two white wines of great personality are born: Coenobium and Coenobium Ruscum, the latter macerated on the skins for at least 15 days. These are high-level oenological expressions, born from tradition, manual labor, and nature left free to express itself, perfectly embodying the idea of work according to the Cistercian order: “Work, especially manual work, gives us the opportunity to participate in the divine work of creation and redemption. Such work, hard and redemptive, provides sustenance for us and others, especially the poor, and expresses solidarity with all workers”.
