Reial Cartuja (Royal Carthusian Monastery)

Reial Cartuja (Royal Carthusian Monastery) Review

It was founded in 1339, but when the monks were expelled in 1835, the Reial Cartuja became apartments for travelers. The most famous lodgers were Frédéric Chopin and his lover, the Baroness Amandine Dupin—a French novelist who used the pseudonym George Sand. The two spent three difficult months here in the cold, damp winter of 1838-39.

In the church, note the frescoes above the nave—the monk who painted them was Goya's brother-in-law. The pharmacy, made by the monks in 1723, is almost completely preserved. A long corridor leads to the apartments occupied by Chopin and Sand, furnished in period style. The piano is original. Nearby, another set of apartments houses the local museum, with mementos of Archduke Luis Salvador and a collection of old printing blocks. From here you return to the ornately furnished King Sancho's palace, a group of rooms originally built by King Jaume II for his son. The tourist office, in Valldemossa's main plaza, sells a ticket good for all of the monastery's attractions.