Certosa del Galluzzo monastery (Florence)

 monastery, charterhouse

The Certosa del Galluzzo monastery is situated on a hill, overlooking the southern hills and suburbs of the region surrounding Florence. There is no admission fee to enter the monastery, but visitors are generally expected to offer a small donation. The monastery was constructed in 1341 and once housed an impressive library and the San Lorenzo church continues to operate on its grounds. Originally, the monastery served both as a place of religious worship and devotion, but also as an educational institution frequented by young Florentines. At the height of its influence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the monastery was home to over 100 monks. The institution, however, suffered damage during the Napoleonic Wars.

The monastery can be of interest from an architectural standpoint, as it was built in what is called the Mannerist style, associated with the High Renaissance. The interior is adorned by a range of frescoes, marble and sculptures. The cloister also offers an attractive place to relax for a few moments. Depending on when you visit, you may also be able to tour the rooms and living quarters of the monks who have inhabited the monastery, as well as the refectory. There is also a small on-site museum, featuring paintings depicting biblical themes, as well as a collection of icons.

The Certosa del Galluzzo monastery is located a short distance from Florence’s city centre and the fastest way to travel there is by car for three to four kilometers along the Via Senese.

In Metropolis, Tess Taylor writes about a fourteenth-century Italian monastery that seems to have been a great inspiration for Le Corbusier. According to Taylor, Le Corbusier has written that the image of the monastery in Galluzzo, southwest of Florence, “decided the rest of his life.” Taylor writes:

As the young architect began to articulate his vision of modern life, the urban apartment complexes he drew bore marked similarities to the monks’ dormitories at Galluzzo. “I saw, in the harmonious countryside of Tuscany, a modern city crowning the top of a hill,” he wrote.