PisaCard Participating Sites

Monumental Complex of the Certosa di Calci

The Certosa stands on the Pisan hills. Founded in 1366 as a monastery of the Carthusian Order of Saint Bruno, it owes its current grandiose appearance, with frescoes, stuccos, and furnishings, to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century transformations that nonetheless maintain the internal divisions functional to the Carthusian rule. It stands out as one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in Tuscany. In the sacristy, the Atlantic Bible is displayed, an extraordinary illuminated codex in four volumes dated 1168.

MONUMENTAL COMPLEX OF THE CERTOSA DI CALCI

Founded in 1366 by a noble Pisan family, the Monumental Certosa di Calci is an architectural masterpiece of exceptional visual impact. Although its origins lie in the deep Middle Ages, its current appearance is the result of extensive expansion and decoration work undertaken in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which transformed the austere fourteenth-century monastery into a splendid and sumptuous Baroque palace, perfectly integrated into the surrounding hilly landscape. The Certosa was conceived to house the monks of the Carthusian Order, whose rule rigorously combines eremitic life with cenobitic (communal) life. The visit to the monument allows one to fully understand this fascinating spatial and spiritual articulation. The guided tour passes through the solemn Court of Honor and the Church, entirely decorated with quadratura frescoes and polychrome marble of Tuscan and Emilian schools. It then proceeds to the communal living areas, such as the Refectory and the Chapter House, before accessing the Great Cloister, around which the corridors and fifteen cells of the fathers are arranged: true small apartments equipped with a private garden and a room for prayer and solitary work. Among the most evocative spaces are the Grand Ducal Guest Quarters, reserved for visiting Tuscan sovereigns, the evocative Spezieria (historic Pharmacy), where the monks prepared medicines and liqueurs based on medicinal herbs, and the evocative Prior's cell. A place of historical memory and extraordinary artistic harmony, the Certosa represents an unmissable stop for those seeking beauty and spirituality in the Pisan territory.