The church and abbey of Santa Maria del Piano in Orvinio was built in 817 DC for Charlemagne ordered following the resounding victory against the Saracens.
The church was built on the foundation of an earlier Roman building and the abbey was run by Benedictine monks.
Given its great importance it was also authorized to issue coins.
Its decline began with Napoleon when the church was abandoned.
This continued in the nineteenth century when, because of a cholera epidemic, the inhabitants began to use it as a cemetery by removing parts of the building.
The major degradation was due to a subsequent earthquake.
The church is flanked by a bell tower in Romanesque style of the twelfth century, decorated with single-pane, double and triple mullioned windows.
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