Tom`s travels: Certosa di Padula and Teggiano (13/08/2016)

On this day we decided to head south from Salerno and visit the Padula Charterhouse. It is considered to be the first charter-house built in the Campania region, and the largest in the whole of Italy. Together with Paestum (which I had already visited), the Cilento National Park and the greek and roman city of Velia it is inscribed in the Unesco World Heritage Site list. Construction on the building started in 1309 and was protracted till the 18th century, with most of it dating to the later period due to alterations and reconstructions. So we left Salerno after lunchtime and reached Padula around 3:30pm, with an hour and twenty minutes drive. We parked the car and headed on foot towards the entrance, located on the southern side. We crossed the main courtyard, sided by the stables, granaries, and other buildings that hosted all kinds of shops, and reached the main facade. Dating to the 16th century in a baroque style, the facade is probably one of the most noteworthy features of the whole complex. Once we passed through the entrance we bought our tickets (4 euros full price and 2 euro for student discount) and were given a map of the complex, as it is really large. From there we followed the suggested path, passing through the first cloister called Chiostro della Foresteria, because it was adjacent to the guest lodgings, which had a nice fountain at its center and then entering the church. The interior, dating to the 17th century is a joy of the neapolitan baroque with beautiful decorations, colorful paintings and lavish marbles. We then went through several rooms which included the Hall of the Bells, the Hall of the Chapter and the Hall of the Treasure, all with beautiful baroque decorations. Next was the cloister of the old cemetery and right next to it, through a door, the large Refectory which used to serve as the dining room of the monks. After that we entered the Kitchens, a beautifully preserved example of cooking space (which rarely survives in charterhouses and monasteries) with a huge furnace and chimney at its center and maiolicas decorating the walls. Right beside, through a door, is another cloister, this time very small and in the shadows as it still maintains its 14th century style and architecture. Following the map we reached what were once the Prior's rooms. now housing the Archaeological museum with ancient greek vases, weapons and other objects. There were also two cloisters, the so called Chiostro dei Procuratori and the Prior's cloister which is more like a small italian garden with trees and fountains giving it a peaceful and beautiful setting. Moving on we reached the Great Cloister, an immense rectangular (104x150m) with two floors on all sides and containing the monks' cells. It is in fact the largest cloister in the world, and took us quite a while to walk from one side to the other. We were done visiting so we headed back through the complex and out to the car. It was around 6pm and we decided to go to the nearby town of Teggiano as on that same day they were having a Medieval reenactment which we decided to see. So parking the car outside the historic town and taking the mandatory bus up the hill, we reached the city center. Before the actual fair started we decided to enter the two main churches on the central square: the Church of St Francis and the Cathedral. The first had an interesting baroque interior with some medieval frescoes still remaining, while the Cathedral, also baroque, had several medieval tombs and a beautiful Ambon dating to the 13th century. Exiting the church, we joined the multitude of people, standing to watch the parade start, with many people dressed in medieval costumes, dancing, singing and performing all along the streets. When the parade ended we decided to walk further on through the narrow streets, and ending up in another square overlooking the beautiful valley down below surrounded by mountains. It was getting time for dinner, and each neighbourhood, or rione, was setting up a open air food court on small square around town so we decided to look for a nice one to have dinner. We settled for the Wolf tavern which served excellent boar meat. Then after dinner we went back to the main square and saw the firework show which ended the day and the festival in a great party atmosphere. After that it was time to head back as we still had an hour and a half to go home in Salerno and rest after a great day.