Certosa di Pontignano

The Certosa di Pontignano is a Carthusian monastic complex founded in 1301 in the Tuscan hills north of Siena, within the municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga. For centuries the Carthusians — an order defined by near-total silence and individual hermit cells — inhabited the complex, until Napoleonic suppression expelled the monks in 1810 and the property changed hands repeatedly. The University of Siena acquired it in 1959 and converted it into a conference and event venue. The Renaissance arcaded cloister, the church of San Pietro, and the surrounding vineyards and cypress groves survive intact, making it a favored setting for academic gatherings and weddings. The contemplative hush of the original community lingers in the architecture even as the function has entirely changed.