Gorgona Abbey, later Gorgona Charterhouse (''Certosa di Gorgona''), was a monastery on the small island of Gorgona in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

between

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and the coast of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. It was abandoned in 1425. The remnants of the Abbey's ground are now part of the

Gorgona Agricultural Penal Colony The Gorgona Agricultural Penal Colony is an Italian prison farm located on the island of Gorgona, Italy, Gorgona in the Tuscan Archipelago. The island has a long history of being home to monastic communities, with the Gorgona Abbey being a promi ...

Benedictines

The existence of a monastic community on the island is evidenced from the 4th century. By the 6th century there was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey here, which was later abandoned due to the dangers from

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

pirates. The abbey was re-founded in 1051, when the Mediterranean was more secure, and received endowments from the nobility of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

and the rest of

, and of Corsica.

Carthusians

By the 14th century the monastery had entered a decline, and in 1373 was granted to the

Carthusians 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 ...

Pisa Charterhouse Pisa Charterhouse (Calci Charterhouse) is a former Carthusian monastery, and is the home of the Pisa Museum of Natural History. It is 10 km outside Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. The monastery is noted for the fresco of the ''Last Supper'', by Berna ...

by Pope Gregory XI, under the influence of Saint Catherine of Siena. The Benedictines were banned from the island. Unusually, the prior of the new charterhouse inherited from his Benedictine predecessors the title of abbot, and the charterhouse that of abbey. Saint Catherine visited the new Carthusian community shortly after their settlement here, and notes that work was still in hand to convert the premises for the use of the Carthusians. The monastery was however, like the first one here, under constant threat from North African pirates, and was attacked several times, in 1382, 1384, 1420 and 1423. The last attack was so severe that in 1425 the monks abandoned the island for good and returned to Pisa Charterhouse, taking their records and works of art with them. Gorgona Charterhouse was merged back into that of Pisa, who retained possession of the land on the island. Ongoing disputes over land with the inhabitants of the island led the Carthusians of Pisa to sell their interests here in 1776 to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who set up a fishing village here.

Notes

Sources

* Leoncini, Giovanni, 1989: ''Le certose della provincia Tusciae'', ''Analecta cartusiana'', No. 60.1. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 1989. * Leoncini, Giovanni, 1994: ''Les difficultés des chartreuses de Toscane'', ''Analecta cartusiana'', New Series No 11–12. Pont-Saint-Esprit: Centre de recherches cartusiennes Carthusian monasteries in Italy Benedictine monasteries in Italy Gorgona (Italy) {{Christian-monastery-stub