Territorial Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore

Territorial Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbatia Territorialis Sanctae Mariae Montis Oliveti Maioris
Cathedral
Location
Country	Italy
Metropolitan	Immediately subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Area	49 km2 (19 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 500 500 (100%)
Information
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Current leadership
Abbot	Diego Gualtiero Maria Rosa

The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is a large Benedictine monastery in the Italian region of Tuscany, 10 km south of Asciano.^[1] Its buildings, which are mostly of red brick, are conspicuous against the grey clayey and sandy soil—the Crete senesi which give this area of Tuscany its name.

It is a territorial abbey whose abbot functions as the ordinary of the land within the abbey's possession, even though he is not consecrated as a bishop.

It is the mother-house of the Olivetans and the monastery later took the name of Monte Oliveto Maggiore ("the greater") to distinguish it from successive foundations at Florence, San Gimignano, Naples and elsewhere.