Sint-Jansbergklooster Zelem, Carthusian monastery and historic site in Zelem, Belgium

Sint-Jansbergklooster Zelem is a former Carthusian monastery on the Sint-Jansberg hill. The walled complex has a 1647 gatehouse of brick with iron-sandstone bands, now housing homes, and a long white-plastered wing with a steep dark roof and dormer windows. A slender dark spire rises between the buildings, and the orchard in front holds the 17th-century Tutterkapel.

The monastery was founded in 1328 and operated under the Carthusian order, known for strict discipline and contemplative living. French military forces took over the complex in 1796 during their invasion of the region, ending the monastic community that had flourished there.

The monastery was a place where monks copied books and wrote theological texts, making it a center for intellectual work in the medieval world. This scholarly tradition shaped how the spaces were organized and how people moved through them for centuries.

The monastery and its grounds are private property, so the halls and park are not open to casual visitors; access is arranged for corporate and private events. The walled complex lies in open countryside on the Sint-Jansberg hill, with the orchard and the 17th-century Tutterkapel in front of it. The gatehouse of 1647 now contains homes.

The chapel in the orchard facing the monastery, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Onrustkapel, is known locally as the Tutterkapel and was restored in 1984. The monastery's most important parts have been protected as a monument since 1 March 1978, listed in Flanders' heritage inventory under reference 21812.