Abbey of S. Lucia in Roffeno - Mystery of the 4 ''Parchments of Schwerin''

Near Rocca di Roffeno (Municipality of Castel d’Aiano, in the province of Bologna) lies the ancient Benedictine coenoby dedicated to Santa Lucia. By tradition, it was founded by the Longobard Saint Anselm in mid-eighth century to host wayfarers and pilgrims. The holy place, which would then become an Abbey, stands along the Cassola-Nonantolana Way that, crossing the Apennines and the pass of the Croce Arcana, connected the famous Abbey of Saint Sylvester of Nonantola to Modena and Bologna, and to Lucca and Pistoia in the Longobard Duchy of Tuscia.

The documents of the history of the Abbey of Santa Lucia – already displayed in a prestigious exhibition held in 2017 – are still the object of a virtual exhibition (http://bimu.comune.bologna.it/biblioweb/mostra-santa-lucia-roffeno) whose scientific part was coordinated by Paola Foschi.

Particular attention is paid to the mystery of the 4 "Parchments of Schwerin” found in the years after the Second World War in a train wagon in the capital city of the German State of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a territory where the very first historical phases of the Longobard peoples took place.