Abbey Novalesa ancient religious complex founded in the 8th century and located in the commune Novalesa on the territory of the Italian Val di Susa.

The history of the Abbey originated in the distant 726, the year it was founded by the order of the Frankish ruler of Susa Abbona to control the pass Moncenisio. In those years, the monasteries were located in strategically important places, and the Franks often used them as a starting point for their conquest. The first Abbot of the Abbey, some of Godane, was appointed by Abbona.

From the Frankish rulers of Pepin the Short and Charlemagne Novalesa received numerous benefits, among which were the right to elect the rector and independence from secular and religious institutions. Over time, the ownership of the Abbey stretched to the Liguria, and they were in close relationship with the Abbey of San Colombano in the town of Bobbio in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna. In 817, the year Novalesa became the property of the Benedictine monks, flourishing it happened in 820-845-m years when the Abbot Aldara.

Unfortunately, in 906, the year the Abbey was destroyed by the Saracens, and the monks fled to Turin. Passing through the town of Lomellina, they built there a monastery Brehme. Among the escaped monks were later canonized and I Flaviano, which in Oulx was killed by the Saracens. In the 11th century Novalesa was rebuilt and together with the communes Ferrer and Venus formed a kind of ecclesiastical belt, which for centuries maintained their independence.

In 1646, the year the Abbey became the property of the order of Cistercians, who ran it until 1798, the year when he was expelled by the government of Piedmont. A couple of years later, in 1802, the year that Napoleon was entrusted with Novlety monks Trappist, which were to facilitate the transition of French troops through the pass Moncenisio. Subsequently, after the publication of the law on the abolition of the monasteries, the monks of the Abbey were again forced to leave him. Auctioned religious buildings of the complex were converted into a hotel and the Seminary library. Only in 1972, the year the monastery complex Novelty was purchased by the government of the province of Torino and was again handed over to the Benedictine order.

Abbey Novalesa preserved the traces of all past eras. In the Church, built in the 18th century on the foundations of ancient, Roman, temple, you can see fragments of frescoes, among which a special attention deserves the image of St. Stephen, stoned to death, - it was made in the 11th century. The cloister Church was built in the 16th century. Near the monastery there are four chapels in Santa Maria (8th century), San Salvatore (mid 11th century), San Michele (the 8th and 9th centuries) and the San Eldrado that remarkable cycle of frescoes of the end of the 11th century.