Padula ( Cilentan: ''A Parula'') is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Salerno The Province of Salerno ( it, Provincia di Salerno) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. __TOC__ Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Battipagli ...

in the

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

region of south-western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is the home of the

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 A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Certosa di San Lorenzo, sometimes referred to as the

Certosa di Padula Padula Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Padula (or ''Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula''), is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park, in Southern Italy. It is a World Herita ...

. As of 2011 its population was of 5,279.Source

Istat The Italian National Institute of Statistics ( it, Istituto nazionale di statistica; Istat) is the main producer of official statistics in Italy. Its activities include the census of population, economic censuses and a number of social, economic ...

2011

Geography

It is located about 100 kilometres south-east of the provincial capital of

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. The majority of the town is on a hillside that reaches 698 meters above sea level. The ''

'' covers an area of 66.33 square kilometres.

History

Its existence reaches back to at least the ninth century when local people used the hilltop area for defence against the Saracens. The history of Padula as an organized village begins with the arrival in 1296 of Tommaso II Sanseverino, though the Monastery of Saint Nicola had been erected on this site earlier, in 1086. This name was chosen because of the legendary man known as Padula.

Religious Monuments and Churches

Padula Charterhouse Padula Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Padula (or ''Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula''), is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park, in Southern Italy. It is a World Herit ...

* Church of Annunziata * Church of St. Michael * Church of St. Nicholas of Domnis * Convent of St. Francesco of Assisi * Convent of St. Augustine * Church of St. Clement * Hermitage of St. Michael to Grottelle * Monument to the demigod of dota Padula

Demographics

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:10000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from:0 till:7041 bar:1871 from:0 till:9307 bar:1881 from:0 till:8938 bar:1901 from:0 till:5114 bar:1911 from:0 till:4581 bar:1921 from:0 till:4528 bar:1931 from:0 till:5253 bar:1936 from:0 till:5528 bar:1951 from:0 till:7030 bar:1961 from:0 till:6773 bar:1971 from:0 till:5941 bar:1981 from:0 till:5749 bar:1991 from:0 till:5623 bar:2001 from:0 till:5403 bar:2011 from:0 till:5279 PlotData= bar:1861 at: 7041 fontsize:S text:7,041 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at: 9307 fontsize:S text:9,307 shift:(-10,5) bar:1881 at: 8938 fontsize:S text:8,938 shift:(-10,5) bar:1901 at: 5114 fontsize:S text:5,114 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 4581 fontsize:S text:4,581 shift:(-10,5) bar:1921 at: 4528 fontsize:S text:4,528 shift:(-10,5) bar:1931 at: 5253 fontsize:S text:5,253 shift:(-10,5) bar:1936 at: 5528 fontsize:S text:5,528 shift:(-10,5) bar:1951 at: 7030 fontsize:S text:7,030 shift:(-10,5) bar:1961 at: 6773 fontsize:S text:6,773 shift:(-10,5) bar:1971 at: 5941 fontsize:S text:5,941 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 5749 fontsize:S text:5,749 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 5623 fontsize:S text:5,623 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 5403 fontsize:S text:5,403 shift:(-10,5) bar:2011 at: 5279 fontsize:S text:5,279 shift:(-10,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Source ISTAT

Famous residents

* Giuseppe Petrosino - Mafia-busting policeman * Frank Valente - nuclear scientist * Andrea Cariello - sculptor

Transport

The town counts a railway station on the abandoned Sicignano-Lagonegro line, closed in 1987. It is served by the A2 motorway

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

, at the exit "Padula- Buonabitacolo", which is the northern end of a highway to

Policastro Bussentino Policastro Bussentino (or simply Policastro) is an Italian town and hamlet (''frazione'') of the municipality of Santa Marina (of which it is its seat) in the province of Salerno, Campania region. It is a former bishopric, now titular see, an ...

on the

Cilentan Coast The Cilento Coast (Italian: ''Costiera Cilentana'') is an Italian stretch of coastline in Cilento, on the southern side of the Province of Salerno. It is situated between the gulfs of Salerno and Policastro, extending from the municipalities o ...

. Nearest airports are Salerno-Pontecagnano (97 km far) and Naples-Capodichino (168 km).

Festivals and Events

* Omelette of 1,000 eggs - "''Frittata delle mille uova''" (10 August). Reenactment of the celebration where the Carthusian Monks created a 1,000-egg omelette for Charles V's visit to the Certosa. Special giant iron cooking "pan" erected in 1996 expressly for this purpose. * Festival of the Romito Madonna (first Sunday in May) * Feast of the Patron Saint Michael the Archangel (last Sunday in May) * Festival of Saint Michael of the Grottelle (third Sunday in June) * A week-long August festival of traditional dishes - ''Bistecca'' * Feast of Saint Francis (first and second Sundays of October) * Ritual of worship to Padula

References

External links

Padula official website

Photo and information about Padula
{{authority control Cities and towns in Campania Localities of Cilento