The Carthusian Monastery

Here, at the heart of a lost valley, stand a few scattered buildings: this is all that remains of the Carthusian monastery of Mont-Dieu, once one of the largest monastic centres of western Europe. In 1084, Bruno of Cologne, in search of a life of solitude, austerity and prayer, withdrew to the heart of the alpine massif, to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, a virgin, isolated area. With his six companions, he founded a ‘wilderness’ here. The Order soon spread throughout France: the first prior of the ‘Grande Chartreuse’ came to the Ardennes and in Mont Dieu he found the ideal spot to live according to the rules of the Carthusians, observing total silence and living as hermits in small houses. The rows of shrubs that now adorn the site bear witness to the 180 arcades that led these solitary monks, three times a day, from their cell to the church.