Certosa di Padula
Encyclopedia
Padula Charterhouse, in Italian
Certosa di Padula (or Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula), is a large Carthusian
monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula
, in the Cilento National Park (near Salerno
) in Southern Italy. It is a World Heritage site
.
The monastery is the second largest charterhouse in Italy after the one in Parma
. Its building history covers 450 years, but the principal parts of the buildings are in Baroque
style. It is a very large monastery, comprising 51,500 m² (12.7 acres), with 320 rooms and halls.
, and its architectural structure supposedly recalls the griddle-iron upon which the saint was burnt alive.
The monastery has the biggest cloister
in the world, covering 12,000 m² (2.97 acres) and surrounded by 84 columns. A famous spiral staircase
of white marble
inside an annex leads to the large library.
According to the strict Carthusian distinction between contemplation
and work, there are two distinct places for these practices: on the one hand the peaceful cloisters, the library with its fine Vietri ceramic tiled floor, the chapels decorated with fine inlaid marble works. The altar frontals in most of the chapels are inlaid, not with marble, but with some of the most spectacular 18th. century scagliola work ever created in the 18th. Century.This is the highest concentration of such work in one place. One of the centres of production was in Naples. the cloister orchards; and on the other hand the large kitchen, the cellars with their enormous wine vats, the laundries, and the huge external yards, where there were people working in the stables, ovens, stores, and at the olive oil mill. The yards were used for productive activities and for trade between the charterhouse and the external world.
The monastery also houses the archaeological museum of Western Lucania, which preserves a collection of all the finds unearthed in the excavations at the necropolis
of Sala Consilina
and Padula
. This museum represents a period of time ranging from protohistory
to the Hellenistic Age.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
Certosa di Padula (or Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula), is a large Carthusian
Carthusian
The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...
monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula
Padula
Padula is a comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is the home of the Carthusian monastery Certosa di San Lorenzo, sometimes referred to as the Certosa di Padula.-Geography:...
, in the Cilento National Park (near Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
) in Southern Italy. It is a World Heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
The monastery is the second largest charterhouse in Italy after the one in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
. Its building history covers 450 years, but the principal parts of the buildings are in Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
style. It is a very large monastery, comprising 51,500 m² (12.7 acres), with 320 rooms and halls.
History
Padula Charterhouse was founded by Tommaso di San Severino on 27 April 1306 on the site of an earlier monastery. It is dedicated to Saint LawrenceSaint Lawrence
Lawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...
, and its architectural structure supposedly recalls the griddle-iron upon which the saint was burnt alive.
The monastery has the biggest cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
in the world, covering 12,000 m² (2.97 acres) and surrounded by 84 columns. A famous spiral staircase
Stairway
Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps...
of white marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
inside an annex leads to the large library.
According to the strict Carthusian distinction between contemplation
Contemplation
The word contemplation comes from the Latin word contemplatio. Its root is also that of the Latin word templum, a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, or a building for worship, derived either from Proto-Indo-European base *tem- "to cut", and so a "place reserved or cut out" or...
and work, there are two distinct places for these practices: on the one hand the peaceful cloisters, the library with its fine Vietri ceramic tiled floor, the chapels decorated with fine inlaid marble works. The altar frontals in most of the chapels are inlaid, not with marble, but with some of the most spectacular 18th. century scagliola work ever created in the 18th. Century.This is the highest concentration of such work in one place. One of the centres of production was in Naples. the cloister orchards; and on the other hand the large kitchen, the cellars with their enormous wine vats, the laundries, and the huge external yards, where there were people working in the stables, ovens, stores, and at the olive oil mill. The yards were used for productive activities and for trade between the charterhouse and the external world.
The monastery also houses the archaeological museum of Western Lucania, which preserves a collection of all the finds unearthed in the excavations at the necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
of Sala Consilina
Sala Consilina
Sala Consilina is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. With 12,738 inhabitants it is the most populated town of Vallo di Diano.-History:...
and Padula
Padula
Padula is a comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is the home of the Carthusian monastery Certosa di San Lorenzo, sometimes referred to as the Certosa di Padula.-Geography:...
. This museum represents a period of time ranging from protohistory
Protohistory
Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings...
to the Hellenistic Age.