Why Would They Build This in the Middle of Nowhere

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Recently someone said “I wonder why they would build the Abbey d’Oujon in the middle of nowhere and someone asked the same about Romainmôtier and the idea is an interesting one.

It’s interesting because until motorways and before an extra four to six billion peoples wewre born and survived infancy the world, as a whole was much quieter. Look at photos of villages that are now towns. Look at villages where they have old buildings, and how old villas are now turned into apartment blocks instead.

## Less Motorways and Train Lines

For a long time there were no motorways so getting around would take weeks, or months, rather than hours. The point is that there was a time when there was a clear demarcation between towns, villages and more. There was a time when the middle of nowhere was everywhere, so nowhere was “isolated” in the sense that it is today. If people lived within walking distance of everything in their life, then the middle of nowhere is not the middle of nowhere. It is home.

The sense of isolation that we feel today is due to motorways and train lines. If you look back 60-70 years then the number of motorways declines. If you go even further back trainlines vanish. It’s because of trains and motorways that our sense of “the middle of nowhere” has evolved.

## Plagues and Mobility

There was a documentary, or video that discussed the plague, and how the decimation of the human population led to people becoming more mobile, and it’s that mobility that brought on the need for family names. Imagine, before then people were married to the land, so the notion of venturing more than a village or two away was an alien concept.

## Walking Distance

When you live in an age where everything is within walking distance, where you live is the centre of your life, and the nearest town is exotic. In such a reality “the middle of nowhere” is less remote than we can fathom.

Romainmôtier seems remote, but it’s on what would have been horse and wagon trails. It’s nestled in a valley which is good for protection but it’s also along a high traffic route.

With Oujon it’s different. It does seem to be more isolated, further from popular roads and routes.

> L’ordre se répand depuis le massif de la Chartreuse vers le nord. Les pentes du Jura alors assez inhospitalières sont peu peuplées et l’isolement est l’une des qualités recherchées par la communauté.
[source](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartreuse_d%27Oujon)

“The order spreads from the Massif of the Chartreuse towards the North. The slopes of the Jura, quite inhospitable, are slowly populated, and the isolation is one of the community’s desired qualities” (My translation). It goess on to say that although it’s isolated it is close to the road that leads to St Cergue.

## Mapping Monastery Locations

It would be interesting to [map the abbeys, monasteries, and ruined buildings](https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/summer-autumn/excursions/historical-switzerland/abbeys-and-churches-search/monasteries/?map=%7B%22south%22%3A45.85857286661144%2C%22west%22%3A6.571477692089616%2C%22north%22%3A47.20698578898782%2C%22east%22%3A7.849882621244518%7D&noidx=1), to see if the “remote” monasteries are as remote as we think. If we look at the [list of Christian monasteries in Switzerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_monasteries_in_Switzerland) we see that there were 22 monasteries of which 22 are listed. I believe that when some of them were disolved they were absorbed into towns and villages, so that the ruins no longer remain. Think of the monastery that once existed on the edge of the Lac De Joux.

Rationally speaking, monasteries would have been more common, and within a few days of walking. Oujon and Romainmôtier may seem isolated today, but it’s by looking at old maps that we may see how many of them were dissolved, and forgotten.

Another aspect to be considered is urban migration, from villages and towns to cities. Some places seem more remote now, because people moved away from them as culture shifted from agriculture and artisan work to urban information work and factory work.

## And Finally

Oujon was intentionally placed in a secluded spot but it’s not as isolated as it seems because of the main road that goes up from Arzier to St Cergue. It is also within two or three walking days of other monasteries such as Romainmôtier, Bonmont and other places. Between 1100-1500 Oujon was probably not as isolated as it feels, by modern standards because of the surrounding villages, and funders of the abbey.

It would be interesting to experiment with how the world was before trains and motorways, when everyone walked or took horses to get around.