Charterhouse of Vedana

The Charterhouse of Vedana is located in the locality of Masiere, in the municipality of Sospirolo, on the place where the ancient hospice of San Marco di Vedana dating back to the Early Middle Ages was located.

The convent church (of San Marco) contains important pictorial works, including three altarpieces; the large one of the high altar by Francesco Frigimelica the Elder of 1610 and the other two of the side altars "of the brothers" by Sebastiano Ricci. Through an agreement with the Carthusian Order and the diocese of Belluno-Feltre these works are exhibited at the diocesan museum of Feltre.

Inside the complex of the Charterhouse there are three rooms, enclosed in an apartment called "vescovado". A residence for illustrious guests who wanted to spend a short period of spiritual reflection inside the charterhouse. Albino Luciani, who later became pope, retired for a whole month inside the charterhouse to draft the documentation for the diocesan synod of Belluno and Feltre.

Period of construction: The construction of the Certosa began in 1456; in the years following 1882, the final extension and partial reconstruction works.

Architectural features: monastic complex of the Carthusian Order; the architectural organism reflects the aggregative peculiarities and environments that characterize the Charterhouses, structured according to the severe "Customs" of the fathers who, although belonging to a monastery, live in strict isolation. The settlement model of the Certosa di Vedana is inspired by the dictates of an ideal scheme attributed to the Carthusian Antonio Arlotti, then related to the nature of the place and modified.

The structures as they appear today are the result of a reconstruction and expansion intervention which took place in the years following 1882, the date of purchase of the complex by the Procurator of the Grande Certosa di Pavia; the partial project is attributed to the architect Francois Pichat. Very high historical - architectural value.

Map: Charterhouse of Vedana