The history of the abbey of S. Eufemia, which is located in the former diocese of Martirano, recalls that of the abbey of S. Maria di Corazzo when one considers that in 1203 the monks of S. Eufemia chose as their abbot the same abbot of Corazzo, who was a Cistercian. The foundation of the abbey in Corazzo took place around 1060, an effort of Roger Sanseverino. Originally Benedictine, it passed to the Cistercians in 1157. The first Cistercian abbot was the blessed Columban, who died in 1176. As Mario Borretti wrote (author of valuable studies on Corazzo), “the solitary monastery became. . .a great cultural center. . .rich in precious books and important documents. . .a rich library.” (M. Borretti, “L'abbazia cistercense di S. Maria di Corazzo,” in Calabria Nobillissima, XIV, n.39 and n. 44).Thanks to donations and privileges received from the Normans, the abbey acquired an extraordinary importance, both spiritual and economic, becoming one of the most important and richest monastic institutions in Calabria, second only to the Benedictine abbey of S. Eufemia.

Having transferred there from the Sambucina, Gioacchino da Fiore was elected abbot against his will. In 1554, Bernardino Telesio sojourned there, and in the quiet of that cloister wrote the greater part of his philosophical works, among which was his De Rerum Natura Iusta Propria Principia, which dealt a decisive blow to Aristotelianism.

Aerial View of the Abbey of Corazzo (Villella private archive)
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