At exactly three o’clock each afternoon at a monastery on the edge of the city of Ferrara, a small convent of nuns files into their private chapel. The Sisters of the Order of St Benedict have been praying in that same chapel for 800 years. Today fourteen women remain in the cloistered environment of the Monastery of Saint Anthony.

They come together in prayer five times each day, and if you’re fortunate enough to be in the adjoining, open chapel at three o’clock on any afternoon, you’ll hear – but not see – them sing the ‘Prayer of the Ninth Hour’.

The public chapel is small and quite dark, and as we were the only visitors that day, it was also absolutely quiet. The chapel’s ceiling is adorned with magnificent frescoes. At the front, a small metal grille provides a glimpse through to the Sisters’ private chapel. In the silence we waited.

Right on three o’clock, the invocation began with the gentle strumming of – what turned out to be – a cetra, an ancient, wooden, stringed instrument a bit similar to a lyre. The elderly nuns’ voices – though not as strong as they once had been – were nonetheless hauntingly beautiful. Even without understanding the language of the prayer, it was impossible not to be moved.

But our experience of the monastery wasn’t over yet. For a short time each day, the Sisters open the private chapel to visitors.

This is largely because the chapel – or three chapels actually – contain precious frescoes dating from the 14th and 15th centuries to as far back as the 1st century.

Access is via a door to the right of the public chapel. We pressed the buzzer and a minute later one of the Sisters answered. How do you explain (in poor Italian) that you’re tourists who want to take a look at the private chapel? Not easily.

A postcard of the private chapel

Eventually the door opened and a tiny, elderly nun motioned for us to come in. She took us through to the chapel and began a detailed explanation of each of the magnificent frescoes, pausing only occasionally to make sure we understood the most important points.

The Sisters don’t charge for access to the private chapel, but they do offer for sale a fine range of postcards and hand made items which, of course, are hard to resist. (So you all know what to expect for your Christmas card this year).

Ferrara is a lovely city, but it is our visit to the Monastero di Sant’Antonio that we will remember for a long time to come.