The female Charterhouse of Mélan is situated in the valley of the Giffre River, south of Lake Léman. It was founded at the end of the thirteenth century and remained active until the Revolution, when the nuns were forced to abandon the site. This event, together with a fire in the twentieth century, led to the loss of most of its buildings; nevertheless, the thirteenth-century church and the cloister from a later period (eighteenth century) have been preserved.
The charterhouse was founded by Béatrice de Faucigny (1234–1310), widow of Guigues VII (1225–1269), dauphin of the Viennois, and later married to Gaston VII of Béarn. After the accidental and premature death of her son John I of the Viennois (1264–1282), she undertook the foundation of this house, an act that was formalised in 1282. At that time Béatrice provided the lands necessary for the establishment, coming from the family patrimony of the Faucigny. The construction of the charterhouse progressed rapidly and by around 1288 the first nuns had already arrived from the charterhouses of Prémol and Parménie, both located in the department of Isère.
Carthusian chronicles also mention the participation of nuns from a nearby Augustinian monastery, connected with the Abbey of Sixt (Haute-Savoie), and even Cistercian nuns. In 1290 the church was consecrated; on that occasion the remains of John I were transferred from the Abbey of Sixt, where he had been buried. This transfer shows the funerary role that Béatrice intended for the new foundation, linked to the dynastic memory of her family. By 1292 the monastery was in full operation thanks to the support of Béatrice herself, which continued until her death in 1310, when she was buried here.
Cloister
Photo by Krzysztof Golik, on Wikimedia
In 1430 an outbreak of plague affected the site and several Carthusian nuns died; the community was forced to bring nuns from other monasteries. In 1528 the monastery suffered a fire, but by 1530 it had already been restored. During the episcopate of Francis de Sales (1602–1622), Mélan received his support; however, in that same century it experienced other difficulties, particularly new outbreaks of plague, the economic consequences of the Wars of Religion and natural disasters. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a period during which the house enjoyed a certain prosperity, work was undertaken to rebuild some of its buildings.
In 1793 the Carthusian nuns had to abandon the house following the suppression of the monastery during the Revolution. Afterwards the site had various other uses — seminary, school and others — until it passed into public ownership in 1906. In 1923 it became an orphanage, an institution that experienced a tragic episode in 1967 when a fire caused numerous victims.
Cloister
Photo by Krzysztof Golik, on Wikimedia
Histoire de Mélan (1898)
Illustration from Maisons de l'ordre des Chartreux (1913)
- ANIEL, Jean-Pierre (1983). Les maisons de chartreux des origines à la chartreuse de Pavie. París: Arts et Métiers Graphiques
- BESSE, J.-M.; i altres (1939). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 9: Province ecclésiastique de Vienne. Abbaye de Ligugé
- BESSON, Joseph-Antoine (1871). Mémoires pour l'histoire ecclesiastique des dioceses de Geneve, Tarantaise, Aoste et Maurienne. Moûtiers: Cane
- CARTOIXA DE NOTRE-DAME DES PRÉS (1913). Maisons de l'ordre des Chartreux. Vol. I. Chartreuse de Notre-Dame des Prés (Tournai)
- DURIEZ, Mathilde (2021). Chartreuse Notre-Dame de Mélan, fouille de l’ancien cloître des moniales. Archéologie de la France
- FEIGE, Hiliare (1898). Histoire de Mélan. Mémoires et documents publiés par l'Académie salésienne. Montreuil-sur-Mer: Notre-Dame-des-Prés
- THOMAS, Jérôme (2014). Entre apogée et déclin. Vivre sa foi au Grand Siècle dans les chartreuses féminines, 1570-1715. Université d’Artois
Mélan belongs to the commune of Taninges (Haute-Savoie); it lies east of Geneva, in the direction of Chamonix