# Pisa Charterhouse

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{{short description|Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, Museum of Natural History}}
thumb|The front courtyard and facade of the church

'''Pisa Charterhouse''', also '''Calci Charterhouse''' or '''Val Graziosa Charterhouse''' ({{langx|it|Certosa della Val Graziosa di Calci}}), is a former [Carthusian](/source/Carthusian) monastery, now the home of the [Pisa Museum of Natural History](/source/Natural_History_Museum_of_the_University_of_Pisa). It is 10 km outside [Pisa](/source/Pisa), [Tuscany](/source/Tuscany), [Italy](/source/Italy), in the ''[comune](/source/comune)'' of [Calci](/source/Calci).

The monastery is noted for the [fresco](/source/fresco) of the ''Last Supper'', by [Bernardino Poccetti](/source/Bernardino_Poccetti) (1597).

==Charterhouse==
The [Carthusians](/source/Carthusian_order) founded a monastery in 1366/67 in what is called [Val Graziosa](/source/Val_Graziosa), a plain overlooked by the [Monti Pisani](/source/Monti_Pisani)<ref>{{cite book|title=The Riviera, Or The Coast from Marseilles to Leghorn: Including the Interior Towns of Carrara, Lucca, Pisa and Pistoia|url=https://archive.org/details/rivieraorcoastf00blacgoog|first=Charles Bertram|last=Black|publisher=Adam & Charles Black|location=London|year=1898|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rivieraorcoastf00blacgoog/page/n218 156]}}</ref> when [Francesco Moricotti Prignani](/source/Francesco_Moricotti_Prignani) was archbishop of Pisa. Shortly afterwards [Pope Gregory XI](/source/Pope_Gregory_XI), a noted reformer of monasteries, expelled the monks from the [Benedictine](/source/Rule_of_St._Benedict) [Gorgona Abbey](/source/Gorgona_Abbey), on the island of [Gorgona](/source/Gorgona%2C_Italy), and gave the island and the estate to the Carthusians of Val Graziosa, who repopulated them.<ref>{{cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/MN5127ucmf_1/page/n769 316]–317|title=The History of St. Catherine of Siena and Her Companions: With a Translation of Her Treatise on Consummate Perfection|url=https://archive.org/details/MN5127ucmf_1|first=Augusta Theodosia|last=Drane|publisher=Longmans, Green, and co.|year=1899}}</ref> This event must have happened not long before [Catherine of Siena](/source/Catherine_of_Siena)'s visit of 1375, as she mentions in her letters the need to convert the facilities for the Carthusian use.<ref>Carthusians needed individual hermitages, whereas Benedictines lived a more communal life</ref> Benedictines were barred from the island.

In 1425, the [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean) reached a peak of political instability. The peace and safety of the monks on Gorgona could no longer be assured. Fearing a [Saracen](/source/Saracen) attack they abandoned the monastery and took up residence at Calci, bringing the records from Gorgona with them, to be duly published at Pisa.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the complex was renovated, receiving its current [Baroque](/source/Baroque_architecture) appearance.

After WW2 members of convents from the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands) started to repopulate the building that had been heavily damaged during the war years. It was thought that a Dutch Carthusian monastery in Italy could one day lead to the re-establishment of a Carthusian monastery in the Netherlands. However, a lack of funds, lack of novices and internal strife caused the Dutch to abandon their project in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Het kroost van broeder Joost : waarom de kartuizers niet terugkwamen naar Nederland|first=Ton|last=van Schaik|publisher=Ten Have|location=Kampen|year=2007}}</ref>
thumb|250px|A whale skeleton in the museum

While the most recent monks to have lived in the monastery left in 1972, the monastic living quarters have since been renovated and are also open to the public.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visittuscany.com/en/attractions/certosa-di-calci/ |title=Certosa di Calci |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021 |website=Visit Tuscany |publisher=<!--Not stated--> |access-date=<!--Not stated--> |quote=}}</ref>

==Museum==
{{Main|Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa}}
In 1981, the [University of Pisa](/source/University_of_Pisa) moved its [natural history museum](/source/Museo_storia_naturale_di_Pisa) to the Pisa Charterhouse. The collection was started in Pisa in the 16th century as a [cabinet of curiosities](/source/cabinet_of_curiosities) connected to the [Giardino dei Semplici](/source/Giardino_dei_Semplici). It houses one of the largest collections of [cetacean](/source/cetacean)s skeletons in Europe. The museum also includes a collection of 51 glass marine invertebrates made by [Bohemian](/source/Bohemia) glass artists [Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka](/source/Leopold_and_Rudolf_Blaschka).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka Collection, Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa |url=https://www.msn.unipi.it/en/blaschka-collection/}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Certosa di Pisa}}
*{{Official website|http://storianaturale.museo.unipi.it/}}
*[https://www.discovertuscany.com/pisa/certosa-di-calci.html Review and feedback] 
*[https://expatendeavors.com/en/2023/08/a-visit-to-certosa-pisa-charterhouse-and-the-natural-history-museum-of-the-university-of-pisa/ Visit to the Certosa of Pisa] 

{{Pisa landmarks}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|43|43|19|N|10|31|22|E|type:landmark_source:kolossus-itwiki|display=title}}

Category:1366 establishments in Europe
Category:14th-century establishments in Italy
<!-- as a monastery -->
Category:Monasteries in Tuscany
Category:Carthusian monasteries in Italy
Category:University of Pisa
Category:University museums in Italy
Category:Natural history museums in Italy
Category:Museums established in 1981<!-- as a museum -->
Category:Fresco paintings in Pisa
Category:Museums in Pisa
Category:1981 establishments in Italy

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pisa Charterhouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa_Charterhouse) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa_Charterhouse?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.