The exterior of Passignano Abbey is one of a fortification endowed with massive and powerful walls and surrounded by buildings from different epoches. Its archives contain nearly 7000 parchment manuscripts whose oldest dates back to 884 preserving the administrative acts recording the history of Chianti. St. Giovanni Gualberto arrived at the Abbey in 1050. A bust of the Saint is found in the church dedicated to St. Michael, and Passignano was his final resting place. The earliest architectural style is Romanesque with a Crypt with three small naves, a bell tower and the marble statue of St. Michael. A church, from the seventeenth century, houses frescoes of the life of St. Giovanni Gualberto by Alessandro Allori. The Abbey houses works by Ghirlandaio and Domenico Cresti as well.
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