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CHARTREUSE, LA GRANDE

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 955 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHARTREUSE, LA GRANDE , the See also:mother See also:house of the very severe See also:order of Carthusian monks (see See also:CARTHUSIANS). It is situated in the See also:French See also:department of the See also:Isere, about 121 m. N. of See also:Grenoble, at a height of 3205 ft. above the See also:sea, in the See also:heart of a See also:group of See also:limestone mountains, and not far from the source of the Guiers Mort. The See also:original See also:settlement here was founded by St See also:Bruno about 1084, and derived its name from the small See also:village to the S.E., formerly known as Cartusia, and now as St See also:Pierre de Chartreuse. The first See also:convent on the See also:present site was built between 1132 and 1137, but the actual buildings date only from about 1676, the older ones having been often burnt. The convent stands in a very picturesque position in a large meadow, sloping to the S.W., and watered by a tiny tributary of the Guiers Mort. On the See also:north, See also:fine forests extend to the See also:Col de la Ruchere, and on the See also:west rise well-wooded heights, while on the See also:east See also:tower See also:white limestone ridges, culminating in the See also:Grand Som (667o ft.). One of the most famous of the See also:early Carthusian monks was St See also:Hugh of See also:Lincoln, who lived here from 116o to 1181, when he went to See also:England to found the first Carthusian house at See also:Witham in See also:Somerset; in 1186 he became See also:bishop of Lincoln, and before his See also:death in 1200 had built the See also:angel See also:choir and other portions of the wonderful See also:cathedral there. The See also:principal approach to the convent is from St See also:Laurent du See also:Pont, a village situated on the Guiers Mort, and largely built by the monks—it is connected by See also:steam tramways with See also:Voiron (for Grenoble) and St See also:Heron (for See also:Chambery). Among the other routes may be mentioned those from Grenoble by Le Sappey, or by the Col de la Charmette, or from Chambery by the Col de Couz and the village of See also:Les Echelles. St Laurent is about 51 M. from the convent. The road mounts along the Guiers Mort and soon reaches the See also:hamlet of Fourvoirie, so called from forata via, as about 1510 the road was first pierced hence towards the convent.

Here are See also:

iron forges, and here was formerly the See also:chief centre of the manufacture of the famed Chartreuse liqueur. Beyond, the road enters the " See also:Desert " and passes through most delightful scenery. Some way farther the Guiers Mort is crossed by the See also:modern See also:bridge of St Bruno, the older bridge of Parant being still visible higher up the stream. Here begins the splendid See also:carriage road, constructed by M. E. Viaud between 1854 and 1856. It soon passes beneath the bold See also:pinnacle of the Oeillette or See also:Aiguillette, beyond which formerly See also:women were not allowed to penetrate. After passing through four tunnels the road bends north (leaving the Guiers Mort which flows past St Pierre de Chartreuse), and the valley soon opens to See also:form the upland hollow in which are the buildings of the convent. These are not very striking, the high See also:roofs of dark See also:slate, the See also:cross-surmounted turrets and the lofty See also:clock-tower being the chief features. But the situation is one of ideal See also:peace and repose. Women were formerly lodged in the old infirmary, See also:close to the See also:main See also:gate, which is now a hotel. Within the conventual buildings are four halls formerly used for the reception of the priors of the various See also:branch houses in See also:France, See also:Italy, See also:Burgundy and See also:Germany.

The very See also:

plain and unadorned See also:chapel See also:dates from the 15th See also:century, but the cloisters, around which cluster the See also:thirty-six small houses for the fully professed monks, are of later date. The library contained before the Revolution a very fine collection of books and See also:MSS., now mostly in the See also:town library at Grenoble. The monks were expelled in 1793, but allowed to return in. 1816, but then they had to pay See also:rent for the use of the buildings and the forests around, though both one and the other were due to the See also:industry of their predecessors. They were again expelled in 1904, and are dispersed in various houses in England, at See also:Pinerolo (Italy) and at See also:Tarragona (See also:Spain). It is at the last-named spot that the various pharmaceutical preparations are now manufactured for which they are famous (though sold only since about 1840)—the See also:Elixir, the See also:Boule d'acier (a See also:mineral See also:paste or salve), and the celebrated liqueur. The magnificent revenues derived from the profits of this manufacture were devoted by the monks to various purposes of benevolence, especially in the neighbouring villages, which owe to this source their churches, See also:schools, hospitals, &c., &c., built and maintained at the expense of the monks. See La Grande Chartreuse See also:par un Chartreux (Grenoble, 1898) ; H. See also:Ferrand, See also:Guide a la Grande Chartreuse (1889) ; and Les Montagnes de la Chartreuse (1899) (W. A. B.

End of Article: CHARTREUSE, LA GRANDE

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