What is Follina known for?

Santa Maria built from 1170, cloister finished 1268, minor basilica and national monument since 1921. The Sanavalle stream powered fulling mills from antiquity to the nineteenth century, the trade that gave the town its name. Vineyards in the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene UNESCO zone inscribed in 2019, on the slopes around Pedeguarda and Farrò.

Follina is a comune in the province of Treviso, Veneto region of Italy, about 76 kilometers from Venezia.

Veneto · Treviso

Follina

A Prosecco-hills borgoaround the Cistercian Abbey of Santa Maria, with a cloister finished in 1268.

76 km / 47 mi

Nearest hub (Venezia)

3,535

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Follina sitswhere a stream cuts out of the Treviso Prealps into the upper Prosecco hills, sixty-five kilometers northwest of Padova. The name comes from follare, to full wool, and the Sanavalle stream powered fulling mills here from antiquity through the nineteenth century. A monastic complex existed before the Cistercians arrived in the mid-twelfth century, likely a Benedictine house dependent on San Fermo di Verona. The Cistercians built the Abbey of Santa Maria from 1170; the cloister was completed in 1268. The abbey is now a minor basilica and parish seat, a national monument since 1921, with frescoes of the Veneto-Byzantine school in the chapter house and a thirteenth-century stone Madonna inside the church. The Brandolini family, lords of nearby Cison di Valmarino, used Follina as a textile center through the Venetian period. The borgo carries five institutional signals at once. The frazione of Pedeguarda holds the older parish church; the centro of Follina runs along the abbey wall and the stream that powered the mills.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Follina fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Gallery

5 photos · scroll →

Known for

Abbazia di Santa Maria
Cistercian abbey built from 1170, with the cloister completed in 1268, raised to minor basilica and a national monument since 1921.
Chiostro dell'Abbazia
Cistercian cloister of 1268, with twin colonnettes, sculpted capitals and a central well, intact in its medieval form.
Sala del Capitolo
Abbey chapter house with frescoes of the Veneto-Byzantine school from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.
Centro storico
Stone village around the abbey wall, on the line of the Sanavalle stream that powered the wool-fulling mills the town is named for.
Chiesa di San Pietro Apostolo
Parish church in the frazione of Pedeguarda, older than the abbey, with a medieval campanile rebuilt in the eighteenth century.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through October is the working season. April and May bring the abbey gardens into bloom and the Prosecco hills into green; September and October bring harvest and the gold light the Rive belt is built on. July and August push into the low thirties and the centro empties in the afternoon, though the cloister stays cool. The Festa dell'Abbazia in early September fills the borgo for two days. November through March is quiet, with the abbey open daily and most cantine on weekend hours. Valley fog can sit for days at this elevation in winter, and the cloister at first light in November mist is the photograph the abbey shop keeps in print.