| Certosa of Bologna | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Colombario's Hall at La Certosa of Bologni. | |
 Interactive map of Certosa of Bologna | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1334 |
| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Type | Public |
| Owned by | Bologna |
| Website | Official website |
TheCertosa di Bologna is a formerCarthusian monastery (orcharterhouse) inBologna, northern Italy, which was founded in 1334 and suppressed in 1797. In 1801 it became the city'sMonumental Cemetery which would be much praised by Byron and others. In 1869 anEtruscan 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 theStadio Renato Dall'Ara, at the foot of the Monte della Guardia and theSanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.
The church is dedicated to SaintJerome (San Girolamo). The painting over the high altar isThe Crucifixion byBartolomeo Cesi; to the left is aPrayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and to the right aDeposition, also by Cesi. The wooden inlaid choir stalls were restored by Biagio De' Marchi in 1538 after a fire started by theLandsknechts ofCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor. There is a series of large (450 x 350 cm) paintings of episodes from the life of Christ which were commissioned toGiovanni Andrea Sirani (Christ in the House of Simon, 1652),Elisabetta Sirani (The Baptism of Christ, 1658),Francesco Gessi (The Miraculous Draught of Fishes andThe Expulsion from the Temple, 1645),Giovanni Maria Galli da Bibiena (The Ascension, 1651),Lorenzo Pasinelli (Entry into Jerusalem, 1657),Domenico Maria Canuti, and theNeapolitanNunzio Rossi (Adoration of the Shepherds). There are paintings of several Carthusian martyrs including the EnglishmenBlessed William Exmew,Blessed Thomas Johnson, Blessed Richard Bere, and Blessed Thomas Green.
Other works byAntonio andBartolomeo Vivarini,Ludovico andAgostino Carracci, in addition toGuercino, were taken toParis byNapoleon, and when returned to Bologna were deposited in thePinacoteca Nazionale.
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 byNapoleon 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 Italiangrand tour: it was visited byByron,Dickens,Theodor Mommsen, andStendhal. In particular the thirdcloister (or that of the chapel) is noteworthy: a tour ofneoclassicism-inspired structures with symbology from theAge of Enlightenment. Some tombs are painted intempera, others are made ofstucco andscagliola.
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 betweennecropolis and city.
The discoveries from an Etruscan necropolis during archeological excavations organized by the engineerAntonio Zannoni, in order to extend the cemetery at the end of the 19th century, are now in the Civic Archeological Museum of Bologna.
Among those buried in the Certosa are the following:
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44°29′47″N11°18′34″E / 44.49639°N 11.30944°E /44.49639; 11.30944
