Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio
Nationalpark Stilfserjoch

The Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria, imposing but with sober and essential lines, lies isolated in the wood and dominates the town of Burgusio.
Started in the late 1100 by the noble Taraps family with a Romanesque-style church, its building continued during the Renaissance period, and was completed in the 17th century with the Baroque decoration of the abbey church.
Inside, the church preserves Romanesque-style and Byzantine-style frescoes, as well as medieval works of art.
The community of Santa Maria founded in the 18th century a ginnasio and managed it for 200 years. In more recent times, the Benedictine monks were also entrusted the management of a middle school with boarding school, inside the abbey.
Next to the monastery, a museum has recently been open: it collects and displays historical documents and artistic treasures illustrating the life of St Benedict and the monks of Santa Maria and representing a precious evidence of the 900 years of religious, cultural, and economic history of the Abbey.