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Château de Salette à La Balme-les-Grottes dans l'Isère

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Demeure seigneuriale
Château
Isère

Château de Salette

    Château de Salette
    38390 La Balme-les-Grottes

Timeline

Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1299
Foundation of the Chartreuse
1329
Gosnay Foundation
XIVe siècle
Crisis and decline
1605
Integration of Poleteins
1790-1792
Revolutionary suppression
1870-1880
Construction of the castle
2022
Historical Monument
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The Château de Salette, its landscaped park, its outbuildings and its hydraulic network located at Salette Road, and listed in the cadastre section B, as described below. In total: the buildings remaining from the old cartreuse (i.e. the entrance pavilion and the three buildings surrounding the courtyard), the 19th century castle, the park and its factories (orangery, pavilion, chapel), the fence wall with the grills, the edge of the Rhone with in particular the port and the promenade beyond the fence wall, the aisle of trees (platanes and lindens) leading to the property, with the plots on which they are located, namely plots n° 21, 22, 37, 290, 291, 294, 295, 296, 299, 300; are also entered in full plots n° 27, 292, 293 and 298, supplementing the right of way of the estate. The following buildings are registered as facades and roofs: farm housing building and farm buildings (excluding hangars), located on plots Nos. 297 and 299. In addition, the old hydraulic system, from its western end along the downstream fence wall, to its upstream beef, and built on plots 17, 18, 25, 36, 37, 288 and 289: inscription by order of 18 November 2022

Key figures

Humbert Ier de Viennois - Founder Created the chartreuse in 1299 with his wife.
Anne d'Albon (ou de Bourgogne) - Co-founder Daughter of the dolphin, involved in the foundation.
Boniface VIII - Pope The foundation was approved in 1299.
Humbert II - Dauphin benefactor Granted rights and income (1332-1348).
François Ier - King of France Confederates privileges in the 16th century.
Henri II - King of France Reiterate the exemptions for nuns.

Origin and history

The Chartreuse Notre-Dame de Salette, also called the Chartreuse de La Salle ou château de Salettes, was founded in 1299 by Humbert I of Vienna and his wife Anne of Albon (or Burgundy), daughter of the dolphin of Vienna. The foundation, approved by Pope Boniface VIII, was intended to establish a convent of chartreous nuns in the diocese of Lyon. Their daughter became the first prioress. This monastery quickly enjoyed economic privileges, such as toll exemptions on the Rhône and fishing rights, granted by the dolphins Humbert I and Humbert II between 1332 and 1348. These donations included income on territories such as Quirieu, Oulx, or Queyras, strengthening its prosperity.

In the 14th century, the Chartreuse suffered crises like plague and wars, leading to a disciplinary decline at the end of the 15th century. Despite this, she played an active role in founding other institutions, such as the Chartreuse de Gosnay in 1329. In the 17th century, a major reconstruction revived the monastery, reinforced by the integration of the Poletine nuns in 1605. The kings of France, Francis I and Henry II, confirmed his privileges after annexation of Savoyard territories in the 16th century, ensuring his stability until the Revolution.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the Constituent Assembly abolished the monastic vows in 1790, forcing the dispersion of the nuns in 1792. The cartreuse, sold as a national property, will temporarily house a faience factory. Between 1870 and 1880, a castle was built on the site, preserving three buildings of the former Chartreuse. The estate, including a landscaped park built in the 19th century (grill of 1876), a hydraulic network and factories as an orangery, was classified as Historic Monument in 2022. Today, there remains a testimony of medieval monastic architecture and 19th century transformations.

External links