Cilento and Vallo di Diano "The land of silence"

Italy has plenty of monasteries, where in Middle Ages the Monks used to resist devil’s temptation avoiding any contact with the rest of the world. They were erected in very quite places just surrounded by silence. Padula is one of the best examples of that way of living; located in the Cilento area, it shares its fame together with the caves of Pertosa and Castelcivita, magic rooms where you can feel the power of nature….

The Pertosa Caves

tour in pertosa cavesThe Pertosa Caves are a remarkable karst cave system located in the municipality of Pertosa, in the province of Salerno, Campania. They are some remarkable show caves of Italy an the most ones, with Castelcivita, in their province.The caves, also named Grotte dell'Angelo as many italian voids in honour of St. Michael, are extended also in the territories of Auletta and Polla.
They are situated by the eastern side of Alburni mountains, in the locality of Muraglione, 3 km in south of Pertosa and close to its railway station. Due to the presence of Tanagro river the caves are rich of water and, to gain access, you have to row across a small lake originating from the underground river. They twist and turn for about 2.500 meters through galleries, tunnels and caverns, which have plenty of stalactites and stalagmites.
 

Padula Charterhouse

Padula Charterhouse is a large and famous 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.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 Lawrence, 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 and 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


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