The Chartreuse Mountains (french: massif de la Chartreuse ) are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in southeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, stretching from the city of

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in the south to the

Lac du Bourget Lac du Bourget (; English Lake Bourget), also locally known as Lac Gris (; en, Grey Lake) or Lac d'Aix (), is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely wit ...

in the north. They are part of the

French Prealps The French Prealps (french: Préalpes) are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps. They roughly stretch from Lake Geneva southwest to the rivers Isère and Drôme; east to a line runn ...

, which continue as the

Bauges The Bauges Mountains (French: ''Massif des Bauges'') is a mountain range in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Eastern France, stretching from the city of Annecy, Haute-Savoie to the city of Chambéry, Savoie, which is part of the French Prealps. Major ...

to the north and the Vercors to the south.

Etymology

The name ''Chartreuse'' is derived from the village now known as

Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse () is a commune in the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, to the north of the city of Grenoble. The Grande Chartreuse, the head m ...

, earlier ''Catorissium'', ''Cantourisa'', ''Caturissium'', and ''Chatrousse''. It appears to be of

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

origin; and is perhaps related to the name of the

Caturiges The Caturiges (Gaulish: ''Caturīges'', 'kings of combat') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper Durance valley, around present-day towns of Chorges and Embrun, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Catur ...

tribe.

Geography

The mountain range rises between

(south),

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...

(north),

Voiron Voiron (; frp, Vouèron) is a commune (French municipality) in the ninth district of the Isère department in southeastern France. It is the capital of the canton of Voiron and has been part of the Grenoble-Alpes Métropole since 2010. Voiron ...

and

Saint-Laurent-du-Pont Saint-Laurent-du-Pont () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It was the site of the Club Cinq-Sept fire, which killed 146, in 1970. Population Economy There is a large cement works at Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, unusua ...

(west) and Grésivaudan (''Isère valley'', east)

Main summits

Summits of the Chartreuse Mountains include: *

Chamechaude Chamechaude is the highest summit in the Chartreuse Massif in the Isère department in eastern France. It is the fourth most prominent mountain in metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole'' ...

, *

Dent de Crolles The Dent de Crolles () is a karstic mountain (2,062 m) of the Chartreuse Mountains range, north east of Grenoble, Isère, France. It has a characteristic "tooth-like" profile and is easily recognizable in the Isère Valley (Grésivaudan) in the G ...

, * Les Lances de Malissard * Grand Som, * Dôme de Bellefont * Piton de Bellefont *

Mont Granier Mont Granier (1,933m) is a limestone mountain located between the départements of Savoie and Isère in France. It lies in the Chartreuse Mountains range of the French Prealps between the towns of Chapareillan and Entremont-le-Vieux. Its east ...

, * La Grande Sure, * Le Charmant Som * Sommet du Pinet ou le Truc * Rochers de Chalves * Rocher de Lorzier * Dent de l'Ours * Scia * Petit Som * Pinéa *

Mont Outheran Mont Outheran (1,676 m) is a mountain of the Chartreuse Mountains in the French Prealps, Savoie, France. Geography The Mont Outheran is a narrow plateau, lying several kilometers in the north-south direction between the Col du Grapillon at the s ...

* Grands Crêts * Pointe de la Gorgeat * Écoutoux * mont Saint-Eynard * Néron * Rachais

Main passes

Passes of the Chartreuse Mountains include :

With road

* Col de la Charmette *

Col de la Cluse The Col de la Cluse is a mountain pass located 1,169 m above sea level in the Chartreuse Mountains. It connects Le Désert d'Entremont (commune of Entremont-le-Vieux Entremont-le-Vieux ( Arpitan: ''Entremont-le-Viûx'') is a commune in the Savo ...

* Col du Coq * Col du Cucheron * Col du Granier * Col de Porte * Col de Palaquit *Col de Vence * Col de la Placette

Without road

* Col de l'Alpe * Col de l'Alpette * Col des Ayes *Col de Charmille * Col des Émeindras *Col de la Faîta * Col de Bellefond *Col de Léchaud * Col de la Ruchère *Col de la Sure *Col de la Grande Vache *Col de la Petite Vache *Col du Baure

Main canyons

Canyons of the Chartreuse Mountains include : * Gorges du Guiers Vif * Gorges du Guiers Mort * Gorges du Ténaison * Gorges de la Vence * Gorge du Manival * Gorges de l'Echaillon * Gorges du Cozon Rau

Main plateaux

Plateaux of the Chartreuse Mountains include : * Plateau des Petites Roches * Plateau du Grand-Ratz

Main Caves

The main caves in the Chartreuse include : *
, long, deep. * Réseau de la Dent de Crolles - about long, deep. * Système du Granier, long, deep. * Réseau de malissard, long, deep. * Système Pinet-Brouillard, long, deep.

Geology

The lithology is dominated by

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, and several hundred kilometres of

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

passages lie beneath the hills, including the world-famous 60 km long

system.

Winter sports resorts

Chartreuse winter sports resorts include : *

Le Désert d'Entremont Le Desert d'Entremont is a winter sports resort in the commune of Entremont-le-Vieux located in the Chartreuse Mountains. It lies between the communes of Entremont-le-Vieux and Corbel. Introduction In winter, with presence of snow, we can prac ...

, where the use of

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

s has been particularly developed * Granier en Chartreuse *

and Le Planolet * Saint-Hugues-de-Chartreuse * Col de Porte *

Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territ ...

* La Ruchère ( cross-country skiing) * Saint-Hilaire-du-Touvet * Col de Marcieu * Col du Coq

Environment

* The Parc Naturel Régional de la Chartreuse was founded in May 1995. * The Réserve Naturelle des Hauts de Chartreuse was founded in 1997. It includes seven Isère townships and four

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...

townships.

Miscellaneous

The Chartreuse Mountains gave their name to the monastery of the

Grande Chartreuse Grande Chartreuse () is the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, north of the city of Grenoble, in the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse ( Isère), France. History Originally, the c ...

, the monastic

Carthusian Order The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

takes its name from these mountains, where its first hermitage was founded in 1084. Also derived from the mountain range's name is that of the alcoholic cordial Chartreuse produced by the monks since the 1740s, and of the chartreuse colour,

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

ish

hue In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that ...

of the Chartreuse liqueur, named after the drink.

References

External links

Chartreuse: A Walking GuideA Wiki-Walks guide to some less well known hiking routes in the Chartreuse
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountains of Isère Mountains of Savoie