From Charterhouse to Charterhouse

In-depth analysis by Arch. Daniela Delleani

The Certosa di Montebenedetto, located in the Orsiera-Rocciavré Natural Park, is part of a network of monasteries of the Carthusian order that spread in the 12th century, following papal authorization to the founder Bruno of Cologne, as a hardening of the Benedictine rule in France, Italy, Switzerland, and later in other European countries, North and South America, and the East.

Their history, particularly that of the original ones, is closely linked, both due to the contacts and transfers of monastic communities from one to another, and to the motivations that led to their emergence.

The Carthusian order is always in search of a désert either in the mountains or by the sea or on hills, meaning a secluded place that allows for a life of meditation as well as work.

Only later, with donations from lords or bishops that expanded the lands of the original settlements, the charterhouses transformed from places of hermitage and prayer to economic powers, which required the presence of workers, the conversi, who do not take religious vows: thus they expanded, separating the spaces of the monks from those of the conversi.

In general, the monasteries became owners of woods and farmland and entered into conflict with the local populations over hunting rights, firewood, ownership of agricultural land, and the raising of sheep and cows, which is why almost all charterhouses are marked by arson committed during disputes, or destroyed by landslides and floods that were common at the time in the mountains. All this led to the abandonment of high-altitude sites and reconstructions at lower elevations.

Architectural Forms and Materials

Starting from the 13th century, some orders were suppressed due to the secularization of the Napoleonic State, while other monks were harshly punished for the protection they provided to the partisan struggle during World War II, resulting in the transfer of monks between France, Italy, and Switzerland: some charterhouses were definitively abandoned, others rebuilt, and some changed ownership and usage.

These various types of contacts, along with the criteria established by the Rule, give rise to common elements in the constructions: one or more cloisters, overlooking which are the monks' cells, typically numbering 12, though sometimes fewer or more, the church, the prior's residence, the refectory, and the library in the area reserved for the religious; the residences of the conversi, the guesthouse, the kitchen, and the workshops (sawmills, workshops, mills) are separate, sometimes directly connected, sometimes built at a distance so as not to disturb monastic life.
The complex is enclosed by a surrounding wall, inside there are gardens of medicinal herbs, a well in the older charterhouses, actual gardens with fountains in their baroque evolutions, pools for fish breeding; often the cemetery of the monks is located in the cloister.

Romanesque Period

The architectural forms and materials used during the Romanesque period show significant similarities: there is extensive use of worked stone with joints made of lime, the nave of the church can be single or have two small ones alongside the main one, with one or three single openings facing east, the roofing can be made of stone (schist) or slate or shingles depending on the material found on-site; decorations are virtually non-existent, as required by the rule, except for jambs, thresholds, and lintels made of worked stone at doors and windows.
The primitive cells are small, equipped with a simple bed, kneeler, small wardrobe-library, and a stove, with a garden overlooking the common space; subsequently, they become more complex, with two floors, adding a study room, sometimes a small workshop.
A covered pathway, a masonry portico or wooden canopy, connects the cells to the church, the refectory, and the common areas, allowing the monks to move even in the case of snow or rain.
In the refectory, the monks share meals together on festive days, in silence, with the only reading of parts of the Bible by one of them; the cells are equipped for eating on other days, in more complex and later cases a common kitchen serves dishes to the cells through a revolving door.

Baroque Constructions

As the centuries passed, the charterhouses began to host pilgrims in ever-increasing numbers, and the areas dedicated to them and to the conversi took on more significant dimensions: particularly in the baroque constructions, the sobriety of the original charterhouses was abandoned in favor of decorated, plastered, and colored masonry, and the spaces were enriched with paintings, sculptures, and works of art that have little to do with the poverty of the order, but which over time have favored their transformation into places of tourist interest as well as of worship.

In contrast, other charterhouses have chosen to emphasize their religious vocation and have maintained more limited dimensions and simpler features, with very limited openings for visitors.