Montebenedetto Charterhouse

Last updated
Certosa di Montebenedetto da Monte Salancia.jpg
Church interior Certosa di Montebenedetto-Chiesa.jpg
Church interior

Montebenedetto Charterhouse (Italian : Certosa di Montebenedetto) is a former Carthusian monastery (or charterhouse) in the Val di Susa in Piedmont, Northern Italy.

Contents

History

In 1189-91 the Carthusians founded Losa Charterhouse (Certosa della Losa) at Losa in Gravere. The site quickly proved unsuitable and the monks built a new monastery on lands given by Tommaso of Moriana, Montebenedetto Charterhouse, which the Losa community occupied in 1197 or 1198. [1]

In 1205 the charterhouse, which already owned the Orsiera valley, acquired the estate of Banda, situated lower down the mountains and more accessible than the monastery, where they established a grange, the monastery infirmary and a guest house. [1]

During the 15th century pressure grew within the monastery for the community to move down to the valley floor. In 1473 the premises were largely destroyed in a flood, and in 1498 the monks re-settled to expanded premises at Banda, from then onwards Banda Charterhouse. From this date the premises at Montebenedetto were reduced to the status of a grange and came to be used as a farmstead. The community at Banda moved in 1598 to Avigliana Charterhouse, but Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, had the buildings destroyed for defensive reasons in 1630. The dispossessed monks were given Collegno Charterhouse in 1642, but in the intervening years temporarily reoccupied the buildings at Montebenedetto and Banda. [1]

Repair and restoration works took in 1987 and 2000, focussing on the monastic church.

Location and structure

Montebenedetto is situated at an altitude of 1,120 metres above sea level, in a clearing surrounded by woods, next to the Fontane river. It is now part of the comune of Villar Focchiardo.

The best-preserved part of the monastery is the former Carthusian church (built in the Romanesque style in the 13th century). The great and small cloisters, the cells and the buildings of the lay brothers were damaged in the flood and fell into ruin after the monastery was abandoned. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carthusians</span> Catholic Church religious order founded in 1084

The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians, are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the Statutes, and their life combines both eremitical and cenobitic monasticism. The motto of the Carthusians is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, Latin for 'The Cross is steady while the world turns'. The Carthusians retain a unique form of liturgy known as the Carthusian Rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certosa di Pavia</span> Monastery and complex in Lombardy, Italy

The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near a small village of the same name in the Province of Pavia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Pavia. Built from 1396 to 1495, it was once located at the end of the Visconti Park a large hunting park and pleasure ground belonging to the Visconti dukes of Milan, of which today only scattered parts remain. It is one of the largest monasteries in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montauro</span> Comune in Calabria, Italy

Montauro is a comune and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy. The municipalities of Gasperina, Montepaone, Palermiti, Squillace, Stalettì are nearby. Agricultural center of the Ionian coast of the greenhouses, in foothills sloping towards the Gulf of Squillace, North of the mouth of the river Soverato. Built before the year 1000, the village had name from the mountain on which it stands, felt with gold. In 1101 by Count Roger was given in fief to the carthusians of Serra San Bruno. Severely damaged by the earthquake of 1783, in 1846 he suffered other damage due to an exceptional flood. The parish church incorporates remains of medieval fortifications with its external structures; in the Interior, which currently occurs in the appearance given to him in the 17th century, wooden ceiling and choir ' 600, sumptuous altar in polychrome marble and bronze sculptures and marble of 600-700 's. Near the village there are the ruins of the monastery of San Domenico now call "La Grangia di Sant' Anna", of Norman Foundation and destroyed by an earthquake in 1783. Montauro has amazing Portals from many years of age. A Medieval town that looks over the Ionian Sea. In Montauro there are many different association registered like:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certosa di Padula</span> Carthusian monastery in Padula, Italy

Padula Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Padula, is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park, in Southern Italy. It is a World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byaroza Monastery</span> Former Catholic monastery in Byaroza, Belarus

Byaroza monastery refers to the ruins of the former Carthusian baroque Catholic Monastery of the Holy Cross, constructed in the seventeenth century in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and today situated in Belarus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Padula</span> Comune in Campania, Italy

Padula is a comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is the home of the Carthusian monastery Certosa di San Lorenzo, sometimes referred to as the Certosa di Padula. As of 2011 its population was of 5,279.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certosa di San Martino</span> Former Carthusian monastery in Naples, Italy

The Certosa di San Martino is a former monastery complex, now a museum, in Naples, southern Italy. Along with Castel Sant'Elmo that stands beside it, this is the most visible landmark of the city, perched atop the Vomero hill that commands the gulf. A Carthusian monastery, it was finished and inaugurated under the rule of Queen Joan I in 1368. It was dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. During the first half of the 16th century it was expanded. Later, in 1623, it was further expanded and became, under the direction of architect Cosimo Fanzago, essentially the structure one sees today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery in Galluzzo, Florence

Florence Charterhouse is a charterhouse, or Carthusian monastery, located in the Florence suburb of Galluzzo, in central Italy. The building is a walled complex located on Monte Acuto, at the point of confluence of the Ema and Greve rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pisa Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, Museum of Natural History

Pisa Charterhouse, also Calci Charterhouse or Val Graziosa Charterhouse, is a former Carthusian monastery, now the home of the Pisa Museum of Natural History. It is 10 km outside Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, in the comune of Calci.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pleterje Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery in Slovenia

Pleterje Charterhouse is a Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, in the village of Drča near Šentjernej in Slovenia, the only extant monastery of that order in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Valsainte Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery in Switzerland

La Valsainte Charterhouse or La Valsainte situated in La Valsainte in the district of Gruyère, Canton of Fribourg, is the only remaining extant Carthusian monastery in Switzerland.

Gorgona Abbey, later Gorgona Charterhouse, was a monastery on the small island of Gorgona in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the coast of Tuscany. It was abandoned in 1425. The remnants of the Abbey's ground are now part of the Gorgona Agricultural Penal Colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garegnano Charterhouse</span> Former Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of Milan, Italy

Garegnano Charterhouse, also known as Milan Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, in the Garegnano district. It now houses a community of Capuchin Friars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certosa di San Giacomo</span>

Certosa di San Giacomo was a Carthusian monastery, founded in 1363 by Giacomo Arcucci on the island of Capri, Campania, southern Italy. It is now a museum and is used for cultural events. The buildings that formed the charterhouse have three main areas: the pharmacy and women's church, the buildings for monks, and those for guests. The cloister is of a late Renaissance design, while the Chiostro Piccolo features Roman marble columns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trisulti Charterhouse</span>

Trisulti Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery or charterhouse, now owned by the Cistercians, in Collepardo, province of Frosinone, central Italy. It is located on the slopes of Monte Rotonaria, a peak of the Monti Ernici, at 825 meters above sea level. It was consecrated in 1211, becoming a national monument in 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certosa di Farneta</span>

Farneta Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Farneta is a Carthusian monastery (charterhouse) just north of Lucca, region of Tuscany, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrara Charterhouse</span> Former monastery in Ferrara, Italy

Ferrara Charterhouse, of which the present Church of San Cristoforo alla Certosa was previously the monastic church, is a former charterhouse or Carthusian monastery built in Renaissance style, located on Piazza Borso 50 in Ferrara, Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The monastery was suppressed in the time of Napoleon, but the church was reconsecrated in 1813 and remains in use. The site also accommodates a large municipal cemetery, which was established in 1813.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certosa di Pontignano</span> Monastery in Pontignano, Italy

The Certosa di Pontignano, also known as the Certosa di San Pietro, is a Carthusian monastery and church in the neighborhood of Pontignano, within the town limits of Castelnuovo Berardenga, a few kilometers north of the city of Siena, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. The monastic complex, after the expulsion of the monks in 1810, passed through various hands, until it was acquired in 1959 by the University of Siena, and used for academic meetings, conventions, and also hotel and restaurant for events such as weddings and celebrations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charterhouse (monastery)</span>

A charterhouse is a monastery of Carthusian monks. The English word is derived by phono-semantic matching from the French word chartreuse and it is therefore sometimes misunderstood to indicate that the houses were created by charter, a grant of legal rights by a high authority.

References

45°05′42″N7°11′26″E / 45.09500°N 7.19056°E / 45.09500; 7.19056