abbey

Meaning

1. The office or dominion of an abbot or abbess.
2. A monastery or society of people, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy, which is headed by an abbot or abbess; also, the monastic building or buildings.
3. The church of a monastery.
4. A residence that was previously an abbatial building.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæb.i/

Etymology

From A.D. 1250 in Middle English abbey, abbeye (“convent headed by an abbot”) (compare archaic English abbaye), itself borrowed from Old French abaïe, abbaïe, abeïe, abbeïe (Modern French abbaye) from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbātia, from Classical Latin abbās (“abbot”). Doublet of abbacy and Opatija. See abbot.

Sentences

The main point of interest is the Romanesque abbey church of " San Michele Arcangelo".