Certosa Di Trisulti, a medieval monastery

THE “CERTOSA DI TRISULTI” BORNS TO A NEW LIFE. THE FIRST RESTORATION WORKS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.

The results of the works, documented by a video, will be presented on September 10th at the Mibact (Ministry for Cultural Activities and Tourism). The works on the ceiling of the church damaged by water infiltration are about to be started. The monastery is a national monument since 1873.

The “Certosa di Trisulti”, a beautiful medieval monastery in the province of Frosinone nestled in the Ernici mountains just beyond Collepardo, is moving towards a restoration that is giving new life to some of its former splendor jewels that are now consumed by the time. This is thanks to the intervention of the “Department responsible for the Historical, Artistic and Ethno-anthropological Heritage of Lazio”

(Superintendency) led by Anna Imponente.

The works were arranged in 2013 by the Mibact, which allocated a budget of € 100,000 for the restoration of oil paintings of the entrance of the old pharmacy and in the adjacent lounge, made by Filippo Balbi, Campanian painter of the ‘800. Today the curious three-dimensional metallic elements, real dimension palm leaves creating the illusion effect of an outdoor garden, that are located in the room in front of the pharmacy, are restored.

The valuable restoration work has been documented by a video edited by the Superintendency to be

presented to the public on September 10, in the hall of the Cruise at the Mibact, along with other films about sacred and hidden sites in the Lazio Region.

The subsequent restoration works led by the Superintendency of the Lazio Region, as announced by Anna Imponente, will address the vault of the church, heart of the Abbey. The monastery, whose extension is of 15 thousand square metres is currently managed and maintained by five monks who are seventy years old. The restoration became urgent after they have detected water infiltration which may ruin forever the precious religious site, built in 1202 at the behest of Pope Innocent III.

The abbey was declared a national monument in 1873, it is home to an old pharmacy with eighteenth- century furnishings, a Roman Gothic guesthouse, Baroque paintings, and a library with 36 thousand volumes. The site also represents a key stage of the Way of St. Benedict, from Subiaco to Monte Cassino, a path through the most significant places of St Benedict of Norcia, through the valleys and mountains of the Umbria and Lazio Regions in one of the richest territories in Europe of history and spirituality. To learn more and to find the route, the testimonies and the guides, it may be useful to look at the site www.camminodibenedetto.it.

Religious tourism has always been one of the most important tourist offers of Ciociaria, where some of the most important abbeys in central Italy are located, like Casamari and Monte Cassino, the spiritual center founded by St. Benedict of Norcia in 529 AD. It is an area that is very important for a territory that was always considered as “middle earth” between Rome and Naples, but also between the sea of the “Riviera di Ulisse” and the mountains of the “Parco nazionale d'Abruzzo” (National Park of the Abruzzo Region) that is also rich of unique beauties, that often are not well known, like the “Certosa” managed by the Cistercian monks is not known as it should be.

Giovanni Cedrone [email protected]

Luana Rodriquez [email protected]