The Certosa di Serra San Bruno is located in Calabria, in the Piani Delle Serre, since 1090. It was the first Carthusian monastery founded in Italy and is characterized by an atmosphere of peace and mysticism.
The Carthusian monks are subject, as centuries ago, to the strict monastic rule of cloistering. The only bridge with the "real world" is the museum built in 1994. Inside there is a library that houses over 25,000 volumes. The quiet and silence, the melodious singing of the Carthusian monks, the scents of the earth, introduce to a singular experience of faith and love.
The Pond of Miracles, where the statue of St. Bruno is immersed, in memory of the penances that the saint offered to God, is evocative.
The place is highly contemplative. One legend, among many, claimed that the famous physicist Ettore Majorana and the pilot who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima found refuge here. The thread between reality and myth is very thin, but what is certain is that this place, highly contemplative, has been a pilgrimage of many famous people; it was visited by H.H. Giovannni Paolo II, Pope Benedetto XVI, the writer Leonardo Sciascia, the Queen of Belgium Paola Ruffo di Calabria and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Charterhouse of Serra San Bruno is one of the places of faith and contemplation, to visit, at least once in a lifetime.
Anecdote: "Will you give me the charity of a cup of coffee," exclaimed St. John Paul II at the end of a frugal meal with the Carthusian friars, based on local products, during the visit. A minute of panic … the Charterhouse lacked coffee, by monastic rule!!!!
The goodness of the monastery’s neighbours was used, as they were so excited to have to prepare the drink that was pleasing to the man that the history of the Church would later consecrate HOLY.
