The Certosa has two cloisters built during different eras and in different formal styles. The Large Cloister was not part of the original 14th c. construction but was built during expansion at the end of the 16th c. It is large, wide and filled with light in contrast to the closed and less luminous sections of the original nucleus. The arches are supported by sturdy pillars; the monks' cells line the sides of the cloister, rather large as was usual for Carthusian monks. The working section of the cell was connected to the private one and both were spacious and light. Today some of them are used as classrooms by the local High School. The wide internal space was probably used as the monks' cemetery but was later turned into a garden.

The Small Cloister is the original 14th c. version. Restoration directed by Chierici during the 1920's revealed the slender, elegant columns with their original Roman capitals, certainly taken from one of the Imperial villas on the island, that were covered during the 17th c. by solid pillars similar to those in the Large Cloister so that the styles matched. The origin of these Roman columns is still open to debate: some scholars believe that the Certosa was built on top of a Roman villa (one of the 12 villas supposed to have been built by Tiberius) but there is no proof to support this hypothesis. The centre of the little cloister is the site of a well from which the monks drew rainwater collected from the extrados vault roofs.  [ More...]