The foundation of the Abbey of San Paolo d’Argon dates back to May 19, 1079 when Giselberto, belonging to one side of the Counts of Bergamo, stipulates the act of donation to the monastery of San Pietro in Cluny, of the land adjacent to the mountain of Argon, that they should erect a monastery dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. The monastery is built in a short time, so that the first evidence of his presence are of the 1092 .
After a period of relative decline during the fourteenth century, in 1466, by order of Pope Paul II, the monastery is given in commendam to Giovanni Battista Colleoni, grandson of the leader Bartolomeo, that two decades later, however, waiver of the benefit of the regime and offers the convent to the Congregation of Santa Giustina of Padua (called a few years later Cassinese). The annexation is enshrined May 14, 1496 by a bull of Alexander VII which also states that the superior of the monastery deserves the title of Abbot .
The new monks commit soon to renovate the building, which preserves the structure until 1512, the first reconstruction. With this renovation the small cloister was born, admirable for the perfect Renaissance proportions, the elegance of terracotta decorations and refinement of the capitals of the columns: all elements that suggest the name of the greatest architect from Bergamo Pietro Isabello (or Cleri) said Abano , which is responsible for security successive rooms of the building.
The Abbot Gregory of Mantova commissioned between 1532 and 1536, to Isabello the refectory of the community which opens on the southern side of the cloister, transformed in the ‘900 into a chapel.
The initial project was a square design with 40 columns. The present form, with 32 columns and rectangular shape, has been established at the time of edification, which occurred during the abbot Cassiodorus of Novara (1536-1540). The abbot Fulgenzio from Mantua, at the head of the monastery from 1599 to 1602, decided to build on the side South – East of the great cloister a new refectory, intended to replace that of the minor cloister, whose architect is unknown.
Between 1608 and 1613 the main courtyard of the monastery is completed with the construction of the eastern part: there are three large rooms including the Chapterhouse. In the following years the most significant involvement is due to the abbot Barbisoni of Brescia who, between 1624 and 1627, decided to decorate the top low arch of the new refectory by the Veronese artist Giovanni Battista Lorenzetti.
On June 6 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte, encamped in Mombello, issues an ordinance that leads to the suppression of the monastery. The assets are confiscated by the Hospital of Bergamo.
Reduced to a farmhouse, in 1935 the monastery was purchased by the couple Giovanni e Luigina Prometti who gave it as a gift to the Bishop Adriano Bernareggi who will destine the main body to the Patronato San Vincenzo of Don BepoVavassori.
In 1978 the complex becomes a Spirituality Center.
