It is located on the slopes of Monte Rotonaria, a peak of the Monti Ernici, at 825 meters above sea level.
A first Benedictine abbey was founded in the site in 996 by Saint Dominic Abbot; some remains can be seen today not far from the current building.
The latter was erected starting from 1204, on a more accessible location, by order of Pope Innocent III, who assigned it to the Carthusians.
In 2018 the former White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, announced plans to establish a "gladiator school" for aspiring right-wing politicians in the charterhouse.
The entrance has a bust of Saint Bartholomew by Jacopo Lo Duca, a pupil of Michelangelo Buonarroti; this leads to a central square where there is a Romanesque-Gothic guesthouse, commonly known as the "Palace of Innocent III" (including a portico, a terrace and a library of 36,000 volumes), and the church of San Bartolomeo (St. Bartholomew).