Badia Fiorentina

In the heart of the historic center of Florence, steps away from the streets Dante once walked, stands the Badia Fiorentina, an abbey founded in 978. Since 1998, it has been home to two communities of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, one of brothers and one of sisters. Three times a day, they gather in the church to chant the offices, right in the middle of the city.

To experience a true spiritual retreat in Tuscany, the community welcomes you into the rhythm of prayer and work with the sisters. A place open to all who thirst for beauty, peace, and silence, whether believers or seekers.

In Florence, the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem

The Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem were born from a desert, in the literal sense. A priest from Aveyron and student chaplain at the Sorbonne, Pierre-Marie Delfieux left in 1972 for the Sahara, on the Assekrem plateau, not far from the hermitage of Charles de Foucauld. He stayed there for two years and received an insight: the true desert, today, is the great cities. On November 1, 1975, he founded the first fraternity of brothers at Saint-Gervais, in Paris; the sisters followed in December 1976.

Their vocation: to seek God in the midst of the world, where people live. Prayer, fraternal life, work in the city, silence, and hospitality shape their daily life.

In Florence, this insight finds a thousand-year-old echo. When the Marchioness Willa de Toscane founded the Badia in 978, the presence of Benedictine monks in the heart of the city was already remarkable: usually, they were found far from the city walls. A thousand years later, monks are still living in the city.

A retreat with the Fraternities of Florence

In Florence, the Badia opens its chanted offices to you from Tuesday to Sunday, as well as Eucharistic adoration from Tuesday to Saturday, and even throughout the night on Thursday.

During your retreat, you can meet with a brother or sister at the Badia for a time of spiritual accompaniment or confession, at set times or by appointment.

Discovering the surroundings of the Badia Fiorentina, in Tuscany

• Le Cammino di Dante: the pilgrimage route linking Florence to Ravenna passes through Gamogna. You can arrive at the hermitage on foot from Marradi (approximately 10 km, CAI trail 521), crossing forests, pastures, and ridges with open views.
• Trebbana: another site restored by Father Daniele Badiali and the young people who accompanied him, 1 hour's walk from the hermitage.
• La Badia Fiorentina: in the center of Florence, the church remodeled from 1284 onward (attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect of the Palazzo Vecchio) and the Cloister of the Orange Trees can be visited on Mondays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.. A Mass is still celebrated there every December 21 in memory of Marquis Ugo, son of the foundress, mentioned by Dante in the Paradiso.