Campania - Padula

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THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY OF PADULA AND THE GROTTOS OF PERTOSA
Visit its famous Carthusian Monastery, the biggest architectural complex in southern Italy, with 320 rooms, 13 courtyards, 51 staircases and 41 fountains, forming the shape of an enormous grating, the symbol of the sufferance endured by Saint Lorenzo, to whom the Monastery is dedicated. The frontage of the Monastery is Neapolitan baroque and the high altar is made in majolica (Italian earthenware) and is inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Visit to the treasury room, the unsupported spiral staircase, the "Bernini" central fountain and the Museum. On the road heading towards Polla, we come to which was once the ancient river bed of the river Tanagro, and the entrance to the Grotto of Pertosa (or the Angels Grotto), which is reached by boat. The grotto has an endless number of galleries, corridors and caverns where stalactites and stalagmites add to these fairytale surroundings creating an atmosphere full of mystery and magical silence.