Priory of Ripaille / Charterhouse of Vallon-Ripaille
Ripallia / l’Annonciade / Charterhouse de Vallon
(Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie)
On the southern shore of Lake Léman stands the Castle of Ripaille which, over the years, has served as a residence of the counts of Savoy, the seat of the Augustinian priory of Notre-Dame de Ripaille, of the Order of Saint Maurice and Saint Lazarus, and later of a charterhouse. Today it houses the Fondation Ripaille, which is responsible for its maintenance.
At the end of the 13th century, Ripaille was one of the properties of the counts of Savoy. By the end of the following century there was a country residence on the site where Amadeus VII of Savoy (1360–1397) died accidentally. In 1410 his son Amadeus VIII (1383–1451) donated the residence to a community of Augustinian canons in order to establish a priory dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint-Maurice; he then arranged for the site to be adapted to monastic life, including the construction of a church. The priory was placed under the authority of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune (Valais, Switzerland).
That same year, 1410, the foundation received the approval of the bishop of Lausanne and in 1417 Pope Martin V placed the house under his protection. From 1434 onwards Ripaille became a place of retirement for the founder, who had built a residence there. That same year Amadeus VIII created the Order of Saint Maurice, which settled at Ripaille. Later this foundation would evolve into the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. In 1439 Amadeus VIII was elected pope (antipope Felix V), a position he held until his resignation in 1449. He died in 1451 and was buried there.
Illustration from Histoire généalogique de la royale maison de Savoie (1778)
Illustration from Histoire des ordres monastiques, religieux et militaires (1718)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
In 1536 the priory, which was already in decline, was affected by the Protestant occupations that struck the region. The house was suppressed and its prior took refuge at Saint-Maurice d’Agaune. Once peace had returned, Ripaille passed into the hands of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, which left the site unoccupied and it was eventually ceded to the diocese of Geneva.
Meanwhile, around 1136–1137, the Carthusians had settled to the south of Ripaille, where they founded the Charterhouse of Vallon. This monastery developed thanks to the lords of Faucigny, but in 1536 it also suffered from the Protestant occupation: the community dispersed and the complex was severely damaged. The Carthusians were unable to recover the site until 1607, but the poor condition of the buildings discouraged any reconstruction there.
On the site of the disappeared charterhouse of Vallon
Photo by Bibiweb, on Wikimedia
Nice et Savoie: sites pittoresques (1864)
Francis de Sales held the episcopal see of Geneva between 1602 and 1622. During his episcopate a solution was found: the site of Ripaille was given to the Carthusians and in 1624 they were able to settle there, establishing the Charterhouse of the Annunciation, better known as the Charterhouse of Vallon-Ripaille. Reconstruction of the monastery began using the structures of the residence of the dukes of Savoy, later transformed into a house of Augustinian canons. The charterhouse survived until the Revolution: by 1793 it had already been abandoned, and today only elements of the dukes’ country residence and remains from the Carthusian period survive, the result of the various constructions, destructions and transformations carried out over the centuries by the successive occupants of the site.
Portal of the Carthusian monastery complex
Illustration from Maisons de l'ordre des Chartreux (1913)
Illustration from Le château de Ripaille (1907)
Illustration from Notice historique sur Ripaille en Chablais (1863)
Old postcard, private collection
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- BRUCHET, Max (1907). Le château de Ripaille. París: Delagrave
- CARTOIXA DE NOTRE-DAME DES PRÉS (1913). Maisons de l'ordre des Chartreux. Vol. I. Chartreuse de Notre-Dame des Prés (Tournai)
- CONSTANT, Monique (1973). Une ville franche des comtes de Savoie au Moyen Age : Thonon. Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes, vol. 131
- COTTINEAU, Laurent-Henri (1939). Répertoire topo-bibliographique des abbayes et prieurés. Vol. 2. Mâcon: Protat
- HÉLYOT, Pierre (1718). Histoire des ordres monastiques religieux et militaires. Vol. 6. París: Coignard
- LECOY DE LA MARCHE, Albert (1863). Notice historique sur Ripaille en Chablais. París, Annecy: Durand, Monnet
- VICTORIN, P. (1932). Les chartreuses de Vallon et de Vallon-Ripaille. Annecy: Imp. Commerciale
The Castle of Ripaille stands north of Thonon-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie), on the shore of Lake Léman