Vallombrosa, a celebrated valley in the Apennines about eighteen miles southeast of Florence. The name is Italian, meaning "shady valley." The Abbey of St. Benedict is situated here. It occupies beautiful buildings. During the French Revolution it became a place of refuge for French priests. The abbey was pillaged by Napoleon in 1808. It is now occupied by the Italian government as a school of forestry. The valley is noted for its beautiful scenery. It is visited annually by thousands of tourists for whose accommodation numerous hotels have been built. Milton touches on the beauty of the vale in his well known quotation: Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades High over-arch'd imbower.