Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Chartreuse de Mont-Sainte-Marie, known as the Aillon, was founded in the 12th century by Count Humbert III de Savoie, who gave the Cartreux monks land and rights over Lake Thuile. Set in an isolated valley of the Bauges, it thrives thanks to donations from the Counts of Savoie and local lords, becoming a major spiritual and economic center with forges, martinets and farms.

Over the centuries, the monastery suffered fire and reconstruction, especially after the one of 1582, which led to its re-construction in the seventeenth century. The French Revolution marked its decline: the monks were expelled in 1792, the buildings sold as a quarry, and only the entrance building (classified in 1994) and the chapel of the Correrie, now communal property, remained.

Purchased in 1990 by the Bauges Community of Communes, the Chartreuse is restored and opened in 2008 as the Maison du Patrimoine, dedicated to the memory of the monks and the rural culture of the massif. The site, the only listed historical monument of the Bauges, closed in 2024 for lack of funding, after hosting exhibitions and educational activities.

The original architecture organized the premises into three groups: the Vestibule (building of foreigners), the Petit-Cloître (meeting place), and the Grand-Cloître (monks' cells). La Correrie, below, housed a barnyard, a chapel Saint-Michel (17th century) and a medieval cemetery, testimonies of the agricultural and spiritual life of the monastery.

The Chartreux d'Aillon, originally from Meyriat (Bugey), marked local history by their rigorous land management and their role in metallurgy, exploiting the Hurtières iron via martinets. Their heritage continues through the toponyms (Lourdens, Fully) and architectural remains, such as the 1670 portal reused in the parish church.

Among the key figures, Count Humbert III, founder, and prior Dom Fiacre Billard, reconstructor in the 17th century, illustrate the political and religious importance of the site. The excavations revealed irrigation systems and liturgical objects, now exposed to the local museum.

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