Chartreuse de Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez, Gothic monastery in Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez, France.
The Chartreuse de Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez is a medieval monastery complex made up of several buildings connected by stone walls and featuring Gothic elements such as pointed arches and elaborate vaulted ceilings. The complex includes a Brothers' courtyard, a cloister, and kitchen areas that were arranged as interconnected spaces for monastic life.
The monastery was founded in 1280 and was meant to provide monks with a place for solitude and prayer according to strict Carthusian rules. After the French Revolution, its purpose changed fundamentally when the local population transformed the abandoned buildings into their homes and living spaces.
The medieval church displays restored wall paintings that reflect religious art traditions from the 13th century and show what artistic works mattered to the Carthusian monks. The spaces still carry traces of this spiritual craftsmanship today.
Visitors can explore the monastery best with guided tours that lead through the main rooms. It helps to wear comfortable shoes since the pathways through the complex are made of stone and there are uneven surfaces.
The settlement today is actually a village that developed from converted monastery cells, creating an unusual blend of religious architecture and private living spaces. This transformation created a rare case where visitors can enter an actively inhabited monastery complex.
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