Certosa di San Lorenzo (Certosa di Padula - Sito UNESCO)
Certosa di Padula, or San Lorenzo, is the first Charterhouse in Campania. It occupies an area of 51,500 m², developed on three cloisters, a garden, a courtyard and a church, and is one of the most sumptuous Baroque monumental complexes in southern Italy, as well as the largest national certosa and among the largest in Europe. Since 1957 it has been home to Provincial Archaeological Museum of western Lucania and since 1998 it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the nearby archaeological sites of Velia, Paestum, Vallo di Diano and Cilento National Park. Built at the behest of Thomas II Sanseverino in 1306, on the site of a pre-existing cenobium, in the sixteenth century the complex boasted illustrious guests, as Charles V who stayed there with his army returning from Battle of Tunisin which, according to tradition, the monks prepared an omelette of 1000 eggs. According to Certosina Rule, which preaches work and contemplation, the building is divided into different rooms: Cloister, Library, with the floor covered with ceramic tiles of Vietri sul Mare, Chapel, decorated with precious marbles, large Kitchen with service areas and neighboring fields. Architectural style is predominantly Baroque and even interior decorations recall Neapolitan Baroque, with gilded stuccos, majolica floors and marble altars. Among the artists who have signed internal church are Luca Giordano, Giacomo Farelli, Francesco Solimena, Paolo De Matteis, Bartolomeo Ghetti, Antonio Fontana and Giovan Domenico Vinaccia. On extreme western side, monumental eighteenth-century elliptical staircase, closed to the outside by an octagonal tower. Behind it, desertum, wonderful Italian garden used by the monks during exits.
