San Pietro in Bovara (12th century)

According to local historians, a Benedictine abbey was established here in 1158.  The inscription (see below) under the tympanum records the church as the work of Atto, who might have been the artisan recorded in other inscriptions on the facades of:

• San Lorenzo, Spello, in 1120; and
  

• the Duomo, Foligno, in 1133.
  

The abbey is first documented in 1177, when Pope Alexander III confirmed its jurisdiction over a number of churches in the area.  However, it declined after the destruction of Trevi in 1214. 

St Francis stayed here at about this time, when the abbey was effectively abandoned.  This was the occasion on which Brother Pacifico had a vision in which the empty throne of the fallen Lucifer was reserved for St Francis.

The monks subsequently returned, but a bitter dispute arose in 1265, when two abbots were elected:

• Grifo, a monk from Todi: and

• Ruggero, abbot of the Camaldolesian Abbazia di San Silvestro on Monte Subasio (Spello ??).

Pope Bonifacio VIII mandated Gerardo, bishop of Spoleto, to adjudicate.  He ruled in favour of Ruggero, who remained in post until his death in 1335. 

The abbey was damaged in the wars between Guelfs and Ghibellines in the 14th century.  In 1334, just before his death, Abbot Ruggero unilaterally united it with Santa Croce di Sassovivo (outside Foligno) and transferred all its goods and rights to this institution.  The papal legate, Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini but the union could not be effected because of the war [Ghibeline opposition ??].  In1421, Pope Martin V instructed Nicolò, bishop of Foligno to put the union into effect provided that all the monks agreed.  However, he found that there was no agreement and nothing was done.

Corrado Trinci, Lord of Foligno took over the abbey in 1421 during his war with the Manenti family, which had instigated the murder of his brother at Nocera.  This allowed the Abbazia di Sassovivo finally to take over the goods and rights in question.   However, Pope Eugenius IV re-established the abbey's independence after he defeated and executed the Trinci [in 1442 ??].  He appointed Tommaso Valenti as abbot nd mandated the papal governor, Archbishop Gaspare of Naples, to adjudicate the dispute with Sassovivo.  He ruled in favour of the abbey’s independence.

Despite the best efforts of Abbot Tommaso, the abbey’s property was never fully recovered.  He secured the agreement of Pope Sixtus IV to transfer the abbey to the Olivetans in 1484, in order to facilitate the reform of its religious practices.  The Olivetans initially nominated a prior, but Tommaso Valenti was still honoured as abbot until his death in 1490.  The abbey now began to recover its former standing. 

Pope Paul III and his court stayed here in 1545, en route from Perugia to Rome. 

The abbey was suppressed in the Napoleonic period.  The Curia subsequently recovered it but transferred it to the Martinez family in payment of a debt.  The church now serves the local parish.

Exterior

The structure of the facade reflects the nave and lower flanking aisles within.  The portal, the two bifore windows and the central part of the rose window were replaced in an excellent restoration in 1886.

Three elements of the facade are of particular interest:

• the tympanum [more: Tempietto di Clitunno];

• the two-line inscription below it (see below); and

• the relief (perhaps 8th century) below the rose window, with two corbels of cows heads above it.
  

The inscription reads:

Atto sua dextra templum fecitque fenestram. Cui Deus eternam vitam tribuatque supernam       Atto, with his right hand, made the temple and the window to whom [to which??] God grants eternal life

The fine campanile (1622) was built after its predecessor was destroyed by an earthquake.

Interior