Chartreuse du Reposoir, la maison de Jean d'Espagne

Le Reposoir

In 1147, before leaving for the Second Crusade, Aymon I de Faucigny gave the Carthusians the head of this valley of the Foron, closed off by the Reposoir range and the Bargy; the house was founded in 1151 around Jean d'Espagne, a Carthusian of Spanish origin, honoured since as blessed, who died in 1160. Le Reposoir is one of the very first daughter houses of the Grande Chartreuse, less than a century after Bruno, and was the principal religious establishment of the Thônes valleys at the beginning of the 16th century; the monks held the alpine pastures of the Borne basin and levied dues in cheeses. The buildings suffered from the climate: they were restored in 1671 and burnt in 1705. The Revolution drove the monks out in April 1793; they returned in 1846, were expelled again in 1855 by the Kingdom of Sardinia, returned in the 1860s, after the union of Savoy with France, and left the house for good on 27 September 1901, under the law on congregations. Restored in 1922, the charterhouse has been occupied since 15 October 1932 by Carmelite nuns. It is thus a charterhouse still inhabited by a contemplative community, with its church, its small Flamboyant cloister restored in 1929 and the closing of the valley above it: of what the desert of a mountain charterhouse once was, this is one of the most faithful images.

Wikipédia — Chartreuse du Reposoir ↗

Getting there : From Cluses or Le Grand-Bornand via the Col de la Colombière; follow the 'Chartreuse' signs in the village of Le Reposoir. The monastery is inhabited by a community of Carmelite nuns: the church and the small cloister can be visited freely, every day, in the morning and afternoon (to be checked), in silence; guided tours on request (to be checked). The rest of the enclosure cannot be visited.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound