About
The renowned "Papessa" Donna Olimpia converted this medieval Italian town into an architectural wonder.
Built atop medieval ruins on the slopes of the Cimini Mountains, the village of San Martino al Cimino preserves rare and remarkable examples of 16th-century architecture and urban planning, conceived by the influential and (in)famous Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj, one of the most powerful women of Papal Rome. Located along the Via Francigena pilgrimage road to Rome, the village was originally settled by the Cistercian Order, who built an abbey and a monastic complex there in the 11th and 12th centuries. The complex was abandoned in the 1500s and the land was given to Donna Olimpia—better known as simply “Donna Olimpia”—by her brother-in-law Pope Innocent X. He also awarded her the title of “Princess of San Martino al Cimino.”
