An ancient place of rest along the Via Francigena, the village owes its name to the ancient Cistercian abbey dedicated to San Salvatore, which was founded in 1001 and was later titled Isola (Island) due to the swampy conditions of the site. The abbey exercised considerable power between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries when it controlled lands and surrounding castles, declining only in the 15th century.
Currently the religious complex shows a part of the ancient Cistercian monastery, beyond which there is a courtyard enclosed by a picturesque Romanesque church of Lombard style dating back to the XI-XII centuries and a jewel of medieval architecture.