The hillside of the “Deserto” was so named for its similarity to a desert, as for some centuries it remained arid, without vegetation and isolated from the inhabited centre. Later on, at the end of 1600’ at the summit of the hill, where there was once a small hermitage, a monastery was built and occupied by the Carmelite monks. In 1808, the arrival of the French in Naples brought suppression to many orders of monks and the convent remained abandoned for more than fifty years.
After the unity of Italy the monk, father Ludovic of Casoria arrived in “Deserto” and was so taken by the beauty of the place that he undertook the restoration and enlargement of the building and founded it as the home of the Bigi fathers.
The convent, however, was abandoned again after 1973, when the Bigi fathers were suppressed according to papal bull.
More than ten years later it was taken over by S.Paul’s Benedictine nuns who have undertaken notable restoration work, restoring the church, the cloisters and all the internal rooms.
Today the convent is the home of the Benedictine nuns, under the rigid clerical rule of prayer and contemplation but they also dedicate themselves to high quality printing.
The panorama that can be admired from “Deserto” is still that which was enjoyed by visitors in past centuries.