Gorgona Abbey, later Gorgona Charterhouse (''Certosa di Gorgona''), was a monastery on the small island of Gorgona in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

between

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and the coast of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. It was abandoned in 1425. The remnants of the Abbey's ground are now part of the Gorgona Agricultural Penal Colony.

Benedictines

The existence of a monastic community on the island is evidenced from the 4th century. By the 6th century there was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey here, which was later abandoned due to the dangers from

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

pirates. The abbey was re-founded in 1051, when the Mediterranean was more secure, and received endowments from the nobility of

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and the rest of

, and of Corsica.

Carthusians

By the 14th century the monastery had entered a decline, and in 1373 was granted to the

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the ...

of Pisa Charterhouse by

Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, ...

, under the influence of Saint

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

. The Benedictines were banned from the island. Unusually, the prior of the new charterhouse inherited from his Benedictine predecessors the title of abbot, and the charterhouse that of abbey. Saint Catherine visited the new Carthusian community shortly after their settlement here, and notes that work was still in hand to convert the premises for the use of the Carthusians. The monastery was however, like the first one here, under constant threat from North African pirates, and was attacked several times, in 1382, 1384, 1420 and 1423. The last attack was so severe that in 1425 the monks abandoned the island for good and returned to Pisa Charterhouse, taking their records and works of art with them. Gorgona Charterhouse was merged back into that of Pisa, who retained possession of the land on the island. Ongoing disputes over land with the inhabitants of the island led the Carthusians of Pisa to sell their interests here in 1776 to the

Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

, who set up a fishing village here.

Notes

Sources

* Leoncini, Giovanni, 1989: ''Le certose della provincia Tusciae'', ''Analecta cartusiana'', No. 60.1. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 1989. * Leoncini, Giovanni, 1994: ''Les difficultés des chartreuses de Toscane'', ''Analecta cartusiana'', New Series No 11–12. Pont-Saint-Esprit: Centre de recherches cartusiennes Carthusian monasteries in Italy Benedictine monasteries in Italy Gorgona (Italy) {{Christian-monastery-stub