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Padula
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There is one sight you should really try not to miss if you're touring this area by car: the vast
Certosa di San Lorenzo
, almost out of the Cilento off the Salerno-Reggio
autostrada
between Sala Consilina and Lagonegro, 1km or so below the town of
PADULA
("Padula-BuonabitA?colo" exit). The Carthusian monastery (daily 9am-7pm; L8000/a?¬4.13) was begun in 1306 but is predominantly a Baroque building, its most impressive feature being an enormous central quadrangle. This would have been a hive of activity, with a foundry, stables, ovens and granaries, as well as the living quarters of the lay monks, who received postulants and pilgrims, but the whole complex fell into disuse following the supression of the monastery in 1816.
The playful sixteenth- to seventeenth-century facade of the monastery divided this lay activity from the seclusion of the "upper house", whose church, treasury and chapel are rich with intricate marquetry, swirling stucco, inset coloured marble and mother-of-pearl - it's hard to believe that in its heyday, the monastery's only 24 monks were housed amidst all this opulence. Despite the undeniable glories of the architecture - notably the grand staircase at the far end which swoops up to a gallery that is now closed to the public - the monastery has a rather desolate air. This might be due to the very excess of such a place in an area long blighted by poverty, or perhaps because it served as a prisoner of war camp for British soldiers during the Second World War, and subsequently fell into decay for many years before being opened to the public. In the town of Padula itself, rather neglected but spectacularly sited, signs take you on an extremely circuitous route to the touching Joe Petrosino museum (daily 9.30am-1.30pm & 3.30-8pm; L3000/a?¬1.55). Petrosino was born in Padula in 1860 and his family emigrated to the US when he was 14. The son of a tailor, he joined the New York Police Department, rising to the rank of Head of the Italian Squad. Returning to Italy in 1909 on an undercover mission to investigate links between the American "Black Hand" and Italian "Cosa Nostra", Petrosino was shot dead as he landed at Palermo. The museum, in the house where he was born, illustrates the humble conditions that spurred many people to emigrate to the US, as well as showing how the Petrosino legend entered popular culture both in the US and in Italy - a lurid cartoon strip, Il Grande Poliziotto Italo-Americano , immortalized the hero, who has a square and a school in New York dedicated to his memory.
Accommodation
options are scarce, and you probably won't want to stick around for more than a night, but the obvious choice is the
Grand Hotel Certosa
(tel & fax 0975.77046,
www.certosa.it
; L90,000-120,000/a?¬46.48-61.98), opposite the monastery on Viale Certosa - though it isn't quite as grand as the name suggests. A couple of minutes' walk from the hotel towards town you'll find a friendly and good-value
pizzeria/restaurant
, informally known as
Da Tonino
, with a few tables outside under a leafy canopy. Finally, the
Musica in Certosa
festival is a programme of chamber music featuring world-class musicians, usually held at the end of July (look out for posters around town) - concerts are free and held in a beautiful frescoed hall in the floodlit monastery. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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