Ruins of the Monastery of San Mamiliano

 church, ruins, monastery

 Upload a photo

Around the middle of the fifth century AD the caves of the island became home to several hermits escaping from the Vandals of Genseric, the most important of whom was St. Mamilian. They christened the island "Mons Christi", from which the modern name is derived. At the beginning of the seventh century Pope Gregory the Great submitted them to the monastic rule of the Benedictines. In this period the Monastery of St. Mamilian was founded; as a result of donations to the Church its wealth became legendary, and a chapel was built in the St. Mamiliano Cave where the saint had lived in the fifth century. In 1216 the monks joined the order of the Camaldolese. Thanks to the donations of several noble families, the monastery became powerful and rich, and this gave rise to the legend of treasure hidden on the island. Once a possession of Pisa, the island was later acquired by the Principality of Piombino. In 1553, Ottoman pirate Dragut, heading for Elba, stormed the monastery, enslaved the monks and decreed its end. After that, the island was uninhabited. In the second half of the sixteenth century, together with most of the Tuscan Archipelago, it became part of the Stato dei Presidi, a client Spanish state.