Gaming Charterhouse (Kartause Gaming) is a former Carthusian monastery founded in 1330 by Albert II, Duke of Austria, who intended it as a dynastic burial place. He himself was buried there after his death in 1358, as was his wife Joanna of Pfirt (d. 1351) and daughter-in-law Elisabeth of Bohemia (d. 1373). The first community, from Mauerbach Charterhouse in Vienna, comprised a double complement, under a prior, of 24 monks rather than the usual 12, and the scale of the buildings from the beginning reflected the monastery's size. Gaming Charterhouse received extremely generous endowments from its founder, including much surrounding land in the valley of the Erlauf, and the town and market of Scheibbs.
The charterhouse was dissolved in 1782 in the reforms of Emperor Joseph II. In 1797 the bodies of the founder, his wife and daughter-in-law were removed to the parish church of Gaming, and in 1825 the monastery and estate, including large areas of forest, passed into private ownership. In 1915 it was bought by the abbot of Melk Abbey.
Today the renovated premises are partly occupied by a hotel and partly by Franciscan University of Steubenville (main campus in Ohio, USA). Since 2004 there has also been a museum, with displays of the history of Gaming Charterhouse and of the Carthusians in general.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.