The abbey of San Fruttoso is situated in Capodimonte behind a bay on the rugged coast of Mount Portofino. It is surrounded by lush and varied vegetation.
The considerable remains of the original monastic building show a Byzantine influence. In fact, the cupola of the church bell-tower is spherical, and the middle of the cupola reflects the water-spring, which clearly has a ritual meaning.

However, much of the present Abbey goes back to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century, when Ottone I's widow, Adelaide, decided to have it rebuilt. In the new church the tower encloses the Byzantine cupola in an octagonal covering. The edifice includes a single-storey cloister, on the west of which there was another building, probably the Chapter House.

However, much of the present Abbey goes back to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century, when Ottone I's widow, Adelaide, decided to have it rebuilt.
In the new church the tower encloses the Byzantine cupola in an octagonal covering. The edifice includes a single-storey cloister, on the west of which there was another building, probably the Chapter House. At the end of the 13th century the history of San Fruttuoso is connected with the Doria family, who added a new building to the cloister, towards the sea. To show their gratitude, the monks granted the family a place overlooking the cloister as a family burial vault. Great changes took place in the 16th century. Andrea Doria demolished the two east and west wings, raised the floor of the church and filled in the original ground level. The cloister was covered with a vaulted roof. Besides, in exchange for legal rights on Capodimonte, Andrea promised Pope Julius III that he would build a tower to protect the living quarters and the Abbey. His sons kept the promise in 1562. Then the decline. At the end of the 16th century the interior of the Abbey was divided up into lodgings which were let out to local families.

The 13th century façade after recent restoration which brought to light the Romano-Gothic style of the building. The irregular shape of the portico's spans, caused by the position of the rocks on which the plinths stand is also seen in the arrangement of the windows.

The effect is that the façade lacks the austere look of similar buildings of the period. It is almost what one might call a "spontaneous" architecture. In the restored façade, the old wooden frames were taken out, and sliding panes on invisible frames were used to preserve the trefoils' purity of line. As in the rest of the Abbey, the roof was rebuilt with traditional methods and materials.

Steel stay-rods were inserted into the edifice facing the sea to hook up the façade to the more solid structures behind. The base plinths were also reinforced. The pointed trefoil arches were restored by the State in 1933, with new materials but on the original model. The heavy wooden frames have been taken away from the two floors, thus giving a beautifully clear view of the sea and the coast.