The Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colomba, founded in 1135 by St Bernard of Chiaravalle, is located 95 kilometres from Milan. By the end of the 1100s, the monastery’s lands increased significantly because of donations from the local aristocracy. The abbey was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1221, and its tower, Ciribiciaccola, was added about one century later. In 1248, the forces of Emperor Frederick II (Stupor Mundi) burned and destroyed most of the buildings of the abbey and its lands. The monastery was restored, but suffered from the Hundred Years' War, when the English invaded the Italian Peninsula in the second half of the 1300s and destroyed the land. And, in the 1700s, Napoleon's troops, on the way to Venice, descended on the area and looted, pillaged and burned the monastery buildings. From 1893 to 1925, the church and monastery were restored in Baroque style, and even hosted concerts. The architectural highlights of the abbey are the window and doorway settings on the east side of the cloisters, which face the chapter house and adjoining rooms, as well as the monks' dormitory staircase, dated from the late 1200s.