Monastère de Bethléem des Voirons, Mountain monastery in Boëge, France.
The Monastère de Bethléem des Voirons is a monastery at the summit of Monts Voirons with views of Mont-Blanc and several chapels. The building also houses art studios where the community creates their works.
In the 15th century, Lord Louis de Langin erected the first chapel at this site, which originally housed a black Virgin statue. The current community of nuns settled here in 1967 and has grown steadily since then.
The monastery belongs to the Petites Sœurs de Bethléem, a contemplative community whose nuns settled on the Voirons in 1967 and now number around a hundred. Visitors can buy handicrafts made by the sisters in the monastery shop. The interior worship space has exposed wooden roof trusses, stone walls and a curved stone bench beneath a rounded alcove painted with red-toned figures.
The monastery stands on the Monts Voirons above Boëge, reached by a mountain road; the site is cloistered, so visitors stay in the areas set aside for guests and the shop selling the sisters' handmade goods. The church interior, with its exposed roof trusses and painted alcove behind the altar, is the part to look for.
The black Virgin statue that originally stood in the chapel was moved to Boëge Church after a fire. The statue remains an important object in local devotion and tradition.
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