Chartreuse, LA GRANDE

Chartreuse, LA GRANDE, the original Carthusian monastery, founded by St Bruno in 1084, is situated in the French department of Isère, 14 miles NNE. of Grenoble, in a wild and romantic valley, at an altitude of 4268 feet above the sea. The convent is a huge ungainly structure, dating mostly from the 17th century, earlier buildings having been several times destroyed by fire. The monks, who long manufactured a famous green, yellow, or white liqueur from various herbs, had at one time considerable property, but they were despoiled at the Revolution, being exiled from 1793 till 1816; and in November 1880 they declined to accept indulgence from the decrees for the expulsion of the religious orders. About a hundred monks are still there, but the monastery is now described as mainly a hostelry for visitors. Queen Victoria was there in 1887. Ruskin in part iv. of his Præcritea (1888) describes his disappointment in both the monastery and its occupants. Certosa and Charterhouse are Italian and English forms of the French name. See CARTHUSIANS.