The Certosa di Pavia Gra-Car is an articulated historical monumental complex which includes a monastery and a sanctuary dating back to the 14th century.
Certosa di Pavia History
The construction of the Certosa di Pavia was started in 1396 on the wishes of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, who chose this place on the edge of the Visconti park.
In the idea of the Visconti the complex was to become the mausoleum of the Dukes of Milan, for which an imposing and majestic work was to be built, to be entrusted to the care of the Carthusian order.
This meant that the works of art were added over the centuries and even if the Charterhouse was built in the 1400s, there are works of various centuries, from the 15th to the 18th. In 1782 the Carthusian monks were driven out and in a few years the Cistercians, then the Carmelites settled. In 1866 he was kidnapped by the state, which depleted the monastery to restore public finances.
From 1932 to 1947 the Carthusians managed to return, but only after a few years did they have to leave again for lack of vocations, so much so that they could no longer manage such a large complex. In 1968 the Cistercians arrived here who still live in this mystical and at the same time fascinating place for the many works of art contained within it.
Today the Cistercians manage to manage this convent, subsidizing themselves in part by carrying out guided tours of the entire monastery and the church, and in part by selling a wide range of items produced directly from them, from honey, from liqueurs to preparations for herbal teas.
In the monks' shop you can also find objects to bring home as a souvenir of a special place and publications concerning the monastery itself.