Official Information
Official website: https://museitoscana.cultura.gov.it/luoghi_della_cultura/museo_nazionale_della_certosa_monumentale_di_calci/
Visitor info & tickets: https://www.visitamusei.pisa.it/visite-guidate-della-certosa-di-calci/
Address: Museo Nazionale della Certosa Monumentale di Calci, Via Roma 79, 56011 Calci (PI), Italy
Map: View on Google Maps
Opening Hours
Opening hours and visit modes are quite structured. On weekends and holidays there is usually general access to the church and main courtyards in specific time slots (for example, Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings), while the full monastic itinerary is accessible only by guided tour at fixed times with limited capacity. Weekday openings may be more restricted and vary seasonally. Always check both the MiC Certosa page and the VisitMuseiPisa portal for current hours, mandatory reservations and guided-tour schedules.
The monumental Charterhouse of Calci, a few kilometers from Pisa, is one of the most impressive monastic complexes in Tuscany. Founded in the 14th century for the Carthusian order and later expanded and embellished, it now houses the National Museum of the Certosa Monumentale as well as, in adjacent spaces, the University of Pisa’s Natural History Museum. Architecturally, the Certosa combines an austere exterior facing the Val Graziosa valley with a surprisingly ornate interior world of cloisters, chapels and decorated rooms. The visit typically begins in the large outer courtyard and proceeds through the church, whose Baroque interior is rich in stuccoes, marble altars and paintings that contrast with the contemplative simplicity traditionally associated with Carthusian life. From there, guided routes lead into the small cloisters, the refectory, chapter house, infirmary, guest quarters and the sequence of hermit cells arranged around the great cloister, each with its own tiny garden—spaces designed to allow monks to live in near-complete solitude while remaining within a shared enclosure. Frescoes, decorative cycles and period furnishings narrate the evolution of the monastery from the late Middle Ages through suppression in the 19th century. Recent restoration campaigns have reopened additional rooms and clarified the circulation route, so you gain a more coherent sense of how the community functioned. Interpretive panels and guides explain daily routines, from liturgical hours to manual work and study. Because the complex is large and delicate, access is organized through timed guided tours for the full route, while simple entrance tickets permit more limited self-guided access to the church and main courts. Tickets and reservations are managed through the VisitMuseiPisa portal and on site, with reduced prices for young people, groups and various concession categories. For travellers, the Certosa pairs well with Pisa or Lucca as a half-day excursion by car or bus, offering a mix of monumental art, landscape and monastic history in a quieter rural setting than the main tourist circuits.