The Certosa di Bologna is a former

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

monastery (or

charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

) in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, northern Italy, which was founded in 1334 and suppressed in 1797. In 1801 it became the city's Monumental Cemetery which would be much praised by Byron and others. In 1869 an

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

necropolis, which had been in use from the sixth to the third centuries BC, was discovered here. The Certosa is located just outside the walls of the city, near the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, at the foot of the Monte della Guardia and the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.

The church

The church is dedicated to Saint

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

(San Girolamo). The painting over the high altar is ''The Crucifixion'' by

Bartolomeo Cesi Bartolomeo Cesi (; 16 August 1556 – 11 July 1629) was an Italian painter and draftsman of the Bolognese School.Andrea Bayer. "Cesi, Bartolomeo" Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 7 November 2020 He made e ...

; to the left is a ''Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane'' and to the right a ''Deposition'', also by Cesi. The wooden inlaid choir stalls were restored by Biagio De' Marchi in 1538 after a fire started by the

Landsknechts The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were Germanic mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line wa ...

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

. There is a series of large (450 x 350 cm) paintings of episodes from the life of Christ which were commissioned to

Giovanni Andrea Sirani Giovanni Andrea Sirani (4 September 1610 – 21 May 1670) was an Italian Baroque painter from Bologna. He is best known as the father of the female painter Elisabetta Sirani. Sirani trained initially with Giacomo Cavedone, then worked in the ...

(''Christ in the House of Simon'', 1652),

Elisabetta Sirani Elisabetta Sirani (8 January 1638 – 28 August 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and printmaker who died in unexplained circumstances at the age of 27. She was a pioneering female artist in early modern Bologna, who established an academy fo ...

(''The Baptism of Christ'', 1658),

Francesco Gessi Francesco Gessi (20 January 1588 – 1649) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna. Biography Born to a noble family, his father noticed his attraction to the arts and placed him in the apprenticeship with Den ...

(''The Miraculous Draught of Fishes'' and ''The Expulsion from the Temple'', 1645),

Giovanni Maria Galli da Bibiena Giovanni Maria Galli (1625–1665), called Giovanni Maria da Bibiena, was an Italian painter, born at Bibiena in 1625. He studied under Albani, and his productions have often been mistaken for those of his master. He died in 1665. Of his larger ...

(''The Ascension'', 1651),

Lorenzo Pasinelli Lorenzo Pasinelli (September 4, 1629 – March 4, 1700) was an Italian painter active mainly in Bologna during the late Baroque period. He was born in Bologna, and initially trained in the studio of Simone Cantarini. He then pursued studies in R ...

(''Entry into Jerusalem'', 1657),

Domenico Maria Canuti Domenico Maria Canuti (5 April 1625– 6 April 1684) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna and Rome. He was a major painter of fresco decorations. His ceiling decorations showed a mix of Bolognese and Roman infl ...

, and the

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

Nunzio Rossi (''Adoration of the Shepherds''). There are paintings of several Carthusian martyrs including the Englishmen Blessed William Exmew, Blessed Thomas Johnson, Blessed Richard Bere, and Blessed Thomas Green. Other works by

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

and

Bartolomeo Vivarini Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo Vivarini (c. 1432c. 1499) was an Italian Renaissance painter, known to have worked from 1450 to 1499. Biography Bartolomeo's brother Antonio Vivarini, and his nephew (also possibly his pupil) Alvise Vivarini, were als ...

Ludovico Ludovico () is an Italian masculine given name. It is sometimes spelled Lodovico. The feminine equivalent is Ludovica. Persons with the name Ludovico Given name * Ludovico D'Aragona (1876–1961), Italian socialist politician * Ludovico Ariosto ...

and

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci (or Caracci) (16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders of ...

, in addition to

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

, were taken to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, and when returned to Bologna were deposited in the Pinacoteca Nazionale.

The cemetery

The public cemetery was established in 1801 using the pre-existing structure of the Certosa di San Girolamo di Casara, founded in the middle of the 14th century that was closed by

in 1797. The passion of the local nobility and aristocracy for monumental family tombs transformed the Certosa in an "open-air museum," a stage of the Italian

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

: it was visited by

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

, and

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de P ...

. In particular the third

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

(or that of the chapel) is noteworthy: a tour of

neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

-inspired structures with symbology from the

age of enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. Some tombs are painted in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

, others are made of

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

and

scagliola Scagliola (from the Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inlay ...

. An aspect that distinguishes the Certosa of Bologna from other monumental cemeteries of Europe is derived from the complex articulation of its use of space. To the original convent nucleus were added lodges, rooms, and porticos that recreate glimpses of a setting that recalls the city of the "living". Even the porticoed eastern entrance of the cemetery, which is linked to the one that leads to the Sanctuary of San Luca with only a small break, creates continuity between

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

and city. The discoveries from an Etruscan necropolis during archeological excavations organized by the engineer

Antonio Zannoni Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 40 ...

, in order to extend the cemetery at the end of the 19th century, are now in the Civic Archeological Museum of Bologna.

Tombs

Among those buried in the Certosa are the following: *

Farinelli Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinelli h ...

(1705–1782), singer *

Gaetano Gandolfi Gaetano Gandolfi (31 August 1734 – 20 June 1802) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque and early Neoclassic period, active in Bologna. Career Gaetano was born in San Matteo della Decima, near Bologna, to a family of artists. Ubaldo G ...

(1734–1802), painter
tomb
* Mauro Gandolfi (1764–1834), painter * Giuseppina Gargano (1853-1939), opera singer * Giuseppe Grabinski (1771–1843), Polish military officer *

Maria Dalle Donne Maria Dalle Donne (12 July 1778 – 9 June 1842) was an Italian physician and a director at the University of Bologna. She was the third woman in the history of the world to receive doctorate in medicine, and the second woman to become a member of ...

(1778–1842), pioneer woman physician and professor of obstetrics *

Isabella Colbran Isabella Angela Colbran (2 February 1785 – 7 October 1845) was a Spanish opera soprano and composer. She was known as the muse and first wife of composer Gioachino Rossini. Early years Colbran was born in Madrid, Spain, to Giovanni Colbran ...

(1785–1845), singer and wife of

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

* Letizia Murat (1802–1859), daughter of

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

tomb
*

Giuseppe Ferlini Giuseppe Ferlini (April 23, 1797 – December 30, 1870 Epitaph from his gravestone in the Certosa di Bologna (see picture).) was an Italian soldier turned treasure hunter, who robbed and desecrated the pyramids of Meroë. Biography Born in ...

(1797–1870), tomb plunderer/treasure hunter * Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli (1825–1881), Italian senator * Nicola Zanichelli (1819–1884), publisher *

Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman. Biography Minghetti was born at Bologna, then part of the Papal States. He signed the petition to the Papal conclave, 1846, urging the electio ...

(1818–1886), Italian prime minister * Severino Ferrari (1856–1905), poet *

Giosuè Carducci Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (; 27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher. He was very noticeably influential, and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906, h ...

(1835–1907), poet *

Alfieri Maserati Alfieri Maserati (23 September 1887 – 3 March 1932) was an Italian automotive engineer, known for establishing and leading the Maserati racing car manufacturer with the other Maserati Brothers. Maserati was born in Voghera. In 1903 he and his ...

(1887–1932), car manufacturer *

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...

(1879–1936), composer * Edoardo Weber (1889–1945), engineer
tomb
* Assunta Viscardi (1890–1947), school teacher in the process of beatification *

Riccardo Stracciari Riccardo Stracciari (June 26, 1875 – October 10, 1955) was a leading Italian baritone. His repertoire consisted mainly of Italian operatic works, with Rossini's Figaro and Verdi's Rigoletto becoming his signature roles during a long and dis ...

(1875–1955), singer *

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, b ...

(1890–1964), painter * Bruno Saetti (1902–1984), painter *

Riccardo Bacchelli Riccardo Bacchelli (; 19 April 1891 – 8 October 1985) was an Italian writer. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the review ''La Ronda'' and Bagutta Prize for literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature eight times. Caree ...

(1891–1985), novelist *

Ferruccio Lamborghini Ferruccio Lamborghini (; 28 April 1916 – 20 February 1993) was an Italian automobile designer, inventor, mechanic, engineer, winemaker, industrialist and businessman who created Automobili Lamborghini in 1963, a maker of high-end sports cars ...

(1916–1993), industrialist *

Farpi Vignoli Farpi Vignoli (21 August 1907 – 3 November 1997) was a 20th century Italian sculptor who was born and died in Bologna. Biography Farpi Vignoli was born in Bologna in August 1907, the son of Callisto Vignoli, a carpenter, and Ersilia Taglia ...

(1907–1997), sculptor *

Lucio Dalla Lucio Dalla (; 4 March 1943 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards. Dalla was the composer of " Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso, and ...

(1943–2012), singer

External links

* Comune of Bologn

* Official websit

* Link to the third cloiste

* Link to the fallen during the Resistance during World War II, resistance of World War I

* Link to fallen during World War

{{DEFAULTSORT:Certosa Di Bologna Tourist attractions in Bologna 1801 establishments in Italy Cemeteries in Italy Buildings and structures in Bologna Carthusian monasteries in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Bologna

The church

The cemetery

Tombs

See also

External links