After a restoring the remains of an ancient altar, in 1246, brother Pietro ‘s little community began to build a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit. A series of event kept Pietro on Maiella until 1293 but this not stop the flow of visitors: in 1347 took refuge there, drawn by the words of Francesco Petrarca who in his De vita solitaria defines this monastery as one of the best place for spiritual asceticism.
For a long period the building was abandoned and restoration undertaken in 1586 when the monk Pietro Santucci of Manfredonia expanded the abbey to house the flourishing community he founded there. At the end of 17th century, Prince Caracciolo of San Buono added a crypt for his family and a three-storey building to the abbey complex.
Nowadays Santo Spirito a Maiella comprises a church of very simple, rehandled lines, the sacristy, the monastic complex where there are the cells, the chapter hall, the library, the winter chapel and the refectory.
For a long period the building was abandoned and restoration undertaken in 1586 when the monk Pietro Santucci of Manfredonia expanded the abbey to house the flourishing community he founded there. 
Nowadays Santo Spirito a Maiella comprises a church of very simple, rehandled lines, the sacristy, the monastic complex where there are the cells, the chapter hall, the library, the winter chapel and the refectory.