Charterhouse seen from Padula

Last year, at the winter solstice, I went with my family for a quite uncommon holiday. We visited some of the province of Salerno, in Campania. It is uncommon for the period: who in good mental shape would go volountarily south of Naples in winter for tourism? But it is also uncommon for the choice of places: our main destination was Padula and its Certosa, a charterhouse or Carthusian monastery. The Certosa di S. Lorenzo in Padula is one of the most beautiful monasteries in the world. It has been declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO, but nevertheless very few of you have ever heard of it, right?

Cloister 3

Why is that? Where is the problem? No information? Have Lonely Planet and Frommer’s forgotten it? No, they haven’t. It’s just so difficult to get there, people don’t care about it. Foreigners start in the main art cities, see Rome, Florence, Venice, maybe Naples if they are brave, but mostly, they stop right there. Not safe going further South… Hic sunt leones! And those of you who are from Italy will confirm it: Italians do not know much more about south of Italy. This is a pity.

I don’t want to bug you any more. Just have a look at the photo albums.

Teggiano, nice small town near Padula

Town of Padula

Certosa di S. Lorenzo in Padula

Town of Campagna, just south of Salerno

Santa Maria Capua Vetere (province of Caserta)

Santa Maria Capua Vetere hosts the beautiful Amphitheatre of Campania, which is the second biggest amphitheatre in the world after the Colosseum.