San Fruttuoso: The Benedictine Abbey
The first community of devotees of the martyr from Tarragona settled in the small bay at the beginning of the 8th century (but the legend moves this date back of almost five centuries) building a church which resisted to the Saracen raids until the 10th century. At the end of this century, thanks to the favors of the Empress Adelaide, Ottone I's widow, the present church was founded; in the13th and 14th centuries another part of the abbey was built closer to the sea. Protected by the Doria family, who built here one of the family graves and also built between the two districts the imposing Watchtower (16th century), the Abbey reached its greatest splendor in the 15th century. It has been the main political and economic center of the Promontory until the last century as it influenced the organization of the territory, the agricultural system, and the fishing economy.
Since 1983 the monumental complex of San Fruttuoso has become property of FAI ("Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano") which took care of its restoration. The inlet, representing the confluence of two large valleys rich in springs, is the only landing place of the Park southern slope. Here there are an historical olive-grove and a beautiful holm oak forest.
