The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is a large Benedictine monastery in the Italian region of Tuscany, 10 km south of Asciano. 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 bishop 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 to distinguish it from successive foundations at Florence, San Gimignano, Naples and elsewhere.
