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The scenes celebrate the history of the Cistercians and are distributed in the main points of the building: the foundation of the abbey, the allegory of the church as a woman, with the Antipope and the Milanese bowing to her, the citizens outside Porta Romana (Roman Gate) offering the model of the church to the saint, a group of artisans busy constructing the building and two miracles performed by the Bourguignon monk during his stay in Milan (curing a child and performing an exorcism). The naves at the sides are free from painted decoration, but host a marble bust of St. Bernard from the 17th century. Two visions experienced by St. Bernard are portrayed on the walls of the presbytery: The Lactation of Saint Bernard and the Dream of Christmas Night, while the vault (1572) features the image of the Four Evangelists and Angels playing Musical Instruments in the rib vaults. The side walls of the choir (1613) feature two frescoes by Luigi Miradori: The Visions of St. Bernard: The Angels respond to the Te Deum and the Angels use golden, silver and black ink to note the fervour of the psalm-singing Cistercians on the left. Going forward towards the dome, there are paintings that decorate the base of the segments, depicting the four Evangelists, and the Doctors of the Latin Church. Sixteen figures of saints are portrayed between the windows of the dome, over the Stories of Our Lady. These works were probably by Stefano Fiorentino, Giotto’s pupil, and can be dated to around the middle of the 14th century. With an extraordinarily sophisticated composition, they depict a single theme: Our Lady’s Transit to Heaven, including the scenes of The Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin by the archangel Gabriel, the deposition of her body in the tomb and the Assumption of the Virgin.

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However, in the years when the abbey was being built, the city was surrounded by an enormous marsh, which some sources attribute to the Archinti family. The territory could only be used thanks to the Cistercian monks’ efforts to drain it, with the strong support of the authorities and the community of Milan, to such an extent that in 1220 Frederick II of Sweden guaranteed the control of the waterway to the abbey and exempted it from customs duties or taxes. This also facilitated the continuation of the works in progress designed to reclaim and restore the land.
Initially the waters of the Vettabbia were channelled by creating an appropriate system of canals. Ditches were dug and dams were built. Once the land had dried, it had to be adequately irrigated and so the correct amount of water was supplied in line with the demands of the seasons and the crops.
In monastic life, manual work has always played an important role and the Rule of St. Benedict placed particular emphasis on this aspect. Soon the Cistercian monks became well-known throughout Medieval Europe for their dedication and technical skills.

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The innovation that made the biggest contribution to the prosperity of the lands in the years that followed the reclamation works was the water meadow system, used by the monks to grow fodder. The system, which soon spread throughout the Po’ Valley, consisted in keeping the land permanently irrigated to enable the grass, protected by the temperature of the water, to grow even in the winter months.
This technique enabled large quantities of fodder to be generated every year, providing huge quantities of food for the farm animals.
Very soon, Chiaravalle Abbey in Milan became a real farm, with an extremely vast range of products: milk, dairy products, vegetables, wine.
And even today the monks in the abbey still dedicate their time to praying and working in the fields. The abbey also hosts a shop where visitors can buy their products: cosmetics, cakes, wine, bakery and many more.

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After a few careful considerations and some experiments, the monks of the abbey had the idea of cooking the milk for a long time, adding some rennet and then salting the resulting cheese. This produced the hard cheese we know today. This rough, textured “cacio” (cheese) began to be produced in the boilers of the monasteries which therefore became the first real cheese dairies in history. Under the watchful eye of the monks, a new professional figure was introduced: the “casaro” (the cheese-maker), an expert in the art of producing cheese.
Due to its long ripening process, the monks called this new cheese “caseus vetus” or “old cheese”, to distinguish it from other cheeses of previous traditions which were fresh and so had to be consumed quickly.
However, the people of the countryside, who were not familiar with Latin, favoured the name “grana” due to its compact consistency dotted with white grains, the small calcium crystals which remained of the processed milk. According to the province in which it was made, a term indicating its origin was added to its name. The most frequently mentioned types were those from Lodi (Lodigiano) – considered by many as the oldest – and the Milanese, Piacentino and Mantovano varieties. The fame of the “grana” produced in the area of the Po’ Valley increased as time went by and it soon became a popular cheese, the star of many of the banquets held by princes and dukes during the Renaissance. Mentions of the product can be found in a letter by Isabella d’Este, the partner of Francesco II Gonzaga and Marquis of Mantua, who sent the famous cheese as a gift to her family members, lords of the duchy of Ferrara, in 1504.
Thanks to its rich nutritional properties and the fact that it could be stored for long periods without altering its taste and nutritional values, the “formai de grana” (grana cheese) became an important foodstuff for the people of the countryside, especially during the terrible famines.
“Grana Padano” became the expression of an entire social and economic culture spanning all classes of society and finding favour with both the rich and the nobles, by then accustomed to a rather elaborate and sophisticated cuisine, and the poor, whose everyday recipes were very much simpler yet traditional.

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On this occasion the “grana lodigiano” cheese was divided into two types, today’s Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano. On 18 June 1954, based on the initiative of Federlatte (Federation of Cooperative Dairies) and Assolatte (Association of Dairy and Cheesemaking Industries) the Grana Padano cheese Protection Consortium was created, reuniting all the producers, ripeners and traders of this cheese. Then, on 30th October 1955, Italian Presidential Decree No. 1269 formally proclaimed the “Recognition of the designations with regard to the processing methods, product features and production areas”. The cheeses it referred to also included Grana Padano. However, it was only with the Ministerial Decrees issued in 1957 that the Grana Padano Protection Consortium confirmed its undertaking to supervise the production and marketing of the cheese. On 12 December 1976, the Production Specifications were renewed for the first time, so confirming the project and the objectives that drove the foundation of the Grana Padano Protection Consortium. Its purpose (as indicated from the original Production Specifications) was to protect the uniqueness of this cheese, but also to spread and promote its consumption by conveying correct information, initiatives and activities designed to support the territory in which it is produced, regulating its distribution and sale not only in Italy but also abroad. In 1996, Grana Padano was awarded the PDO – Protected Designation of Origin – status by the European Union. Following this acknowledgement, checks on the requisites needed by each wheel to obtain the fire-branded mark have been carried out by an independent party – currently the CSQA-, with the approval of the Protection Consortium and the Italian Ministry of Agricultural. Between 2002 and 2011 the Production Specifications of the Grana Padano Protection Consortium was renewed, revised and extended. In this way, approved by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry, it ratified the continuation of its activities and objectives until 31 December 2054.