145. CHARTREUSE OF VILLEFRANCHE DE ROUERGUE. PLAN
In spite of the rigidity of the Rule of St. Bruno certain foundations of his order became famous, notably the monastery established by the Carthusians on the invitation of St. Louis in the celebrated castle of Vauvert, beyond the walls of Paris, near the Route d'Issy. The castle was regarded with terror by the Parisians, who declared it to be haunted by the devil, whence the popular expression: aller au diable Vauvert, which later was corrupted into aller au diable au vert. The Carthusians, nevertheless, took up their quarters in the stronghold, and enriched it with a splendid church built by Pierre de Montereau, the foundation stone of which was laid by St. Louis in 1260. The Chartreuse of Vauvert developed greatly, and became one of the most famous of the order. It was in the lesser cloister of this monastery that the artist Eustache Le Sueur painted his famous frescoes from the life of St. Bruno in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
146. CHARTREUSE OF VILLEFRANCHE DE ROUERGUE. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
147. GRANDE CHARTREUSE. THE GREAT CLOISTER
The most famous Carthusian monasteries of Italy are those of Florence, which dates from the middle of the fourteenth century, and is attributed in part to Orcagna, and of Pavia, founded at the close of the fourteenth century by Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti.
148. GRANDE CHARTREUSE. GENERAL VIEW