Founded in 1170, on the initiative of the bishops of Toulon and Fréjus, the Chartreuse de la Verne is located on the site of a former abandoned priory already bearing the name Notre-Dame de la Verne.
The first Romanesque church was consecrated on October 3, 1174.
Isolated, the Carthusian monastery was burnt down in 1214, 1271 and 1318, and underwent numerous destructive assaults by looters, neighbouring lords and Saracens, not to mention the Wars of Religion in 1577.
Thanks to the Carthusian monks, it was rebuilt and extended until 1789. Then, under the French Revolution, all its assets were sequestered in 1790, and the Carthusian monks were forced into exile in 1792. The religious history of the Carthusian monastery, dedicated to the Virgin of Notre-Dame de Clémence, lasted just over ten centuries.
In 1921, the Carthusian monastery was listed as a historic monument under the heading of "vestiges in the forest", with the exception of certain buildings used for farming and as a sheepfold.
Renovation work began in 1969, thanks to the "Amis de la Verne" association created in 1968. In 1983, an emphyteutic lease was signed between the State and the Congregation of the Nuns of Bethlehem, the Assumption of the Virgin and Saint-Bruno.
The Chartreuse de La Verne offers many points of interest.
Right from the entrance, the monumental serpentine stone door. Then there's the reception room, which houses the cashier's office and craft store, and is located in the gatehouse that was once used to store vegetables, fruit and other supplies.
Next is the barn, one of the tallest rooms in the complex, the bakery with its very large bread oven, and the Adoration chapel, a place of meditation and prayer for visitors, housed in the former souillardes.
Continuing the tour, you can see the oil mill's staircase and the ramparts, which offer a magnificent view of the Maures massif.
The small cloister is not accessible, but you can see it behind a bay window on your way to the Romanesque church. You can admire it from a mezzanine.
The tour then takes you to the 17th-century side chapels
which allow you to admire the large cloister of solitude, then the nuns' cells, the heart of the monastery around its 90m gallery.
Last but not least, don't forget the witness cell, comprising the Ave Maria room, a promenoir, a cubiculum, a workshop and a small garden, and the cellar, a large, beautiful vaulted and paved room, a haven of silence and coolness.
Chartreuse de la Verne
83610 Collobrières
Tel.: 04 94 43 48 28
https://www.mpmtourisme.com/patrimoine-culturel/chartreuse-verne
