The Charterhouse of Trisulti |
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Collection title
Sereno Variabile
First broadcast date
10/23/2010
Abstract
Discovery of the Charterhouse of Trisulti and its history. Visit of the old pharmacy that is located inside and explanations of the characteristics of the area near Collepardo, with the well of Antullo and the caves of Bambocci.
Detailed map of Lazio in graphic frame.
External and internal views of the Charterhouse of Trisulti with details of architectural structure and various objects of sacred art.
Broadcaster
RAI - RAI Due
Audiovisual form
Educational programme
Primary theme
Geography and landscapes
Credits / Cast
- Refrigeri Mario - Journalist
- Crispini Claudio - Participant
- Testana Cinzia - Participant
Map locations
- Italy - Centre - Frosinone - Collepardo
Original language
Italian
Context
The Charterhouse of Trisulti
Nora Demarchi
The Charterhouse of Trisulti is at Collepardo, a small village near Forsinone, 2,500 feet above sea-level, deep in the hundred-year-old oak forests of the Ernici Mountains, in the shelter of the Abruzzo National Park. This magnificent architectural complex is an ideal place to regenerate and find serenity.
The construction of the monastery dates back to 1204 when it was built on the remains of an ancient Benedictine abbey, founded about 996. The many additions over the years, including major restoration works in 1958, have not altered the original Gothic Roman style. Originally created for Benedictine monks, in 1204 the building passed to the Carthusians and since 1947 has been occupied by Cistercians.
The Charterhouse of Trisulti is on the Via Benedicti, a tourist route connecting central Italy's Benedictine monasteries which are scattered across Umbria, Lazio and Molise. This is where St. Benedict spent his life, at Subiaco and Montecassino he founded the first monastic groups of buildings in the history of Christianity. During the Middle Ages Benedictine abbeys were the main centres of Christianity all across Europe, and even today Benedict's successors are there to spread his Rule around the world. Structured as real communities, societies in miniature, in which regular meditative and spiritual activities go hand in hand with cultural, administrative and productive, the Chartreuses have made a major contribution to the development of the individual and modern European society.
The abbey's architecture expressed the monastic Rule: the place of the soul is reflected in the way the space is used. As with every abbey, the most important element was the church, with its domes and towers dominating the other buildings, expressing the central activity of prayer. Buried in the church are the community's creators and the relics of saints. The cloister is another central architectural element: open to the sky, often a central courtyard, it is decorated with flowers or shrubs, and a well. All around there are galleries and covered porticoes, which provide access to the rest of the complex: the dormitory, refectory and hospice. But the library and pharmacy were central to daily life in this abbey: for although reading and study were of great importance, the pharmacy was essential, given the distance between abbey and the nearest town where a doctor might be found.
The old pharmacy and library of the monastery of Trisulti, with their magnificent decorations and rare books, have made this building an Italian National Monument.
Bibliography: brief and to the point
Gröning, P. 2007 : Le Grand Silence, Edition Collector. (DVD)
Moulin, L. 1978 : La vie quotidienne des religieux au Moyen Age, Paris, Hachette.
Brunel, H. 2008 : Piccola introduzione alla vita monastica, Torino, Lindau.
