3 Abbeys to discover

On the program...

01. Fontenay Abbey

One of the first French monuments to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, the Abbey was one of the first French monuments to be included on this prestigious list, which recognizes the exceptional value of both the Fontenay abbey complex and its natural environment. A little history Situated between Auxerre and Dijon, Fontenay Abbey was founded in 1118 by Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, charismatic figure of the Cistercian reform. It is the oldest surviving Cistercian abbey in the world. After the French Revolution, which led to the departure of the monks, it became home to the Montgolfier brothers’ paper mill. Today, their descendants, the Aynard family, are responsible for the remarkable restoration and preservation of all the Romanesque buildings: the abbey church, the monks’ dormitory, the cloister, the chapter house, the monks’ hall and the forge.

Abbaye De Fontenay Romanesque Cistercian abbey door opening onto the choir

What a program!

The Abbey is open to visitors all year round. Every year, over 100,000 visitors come to admire the beauty and purity of an architecture that has been preserved for 900 years, and to enjoy the calm of a deeply spiritual place. The tour includes most of the convent buildings, the gardens and the lapidary museum. It ends in the bookshop.

2. Cîteaux Abbey

Abbaye de Cîteaux: Cradle and head of the Cistercian Order.

Founded in 1098 by Robert de Molesmes, in what was then a “desert”, theCîteaux Abbey, cradle and head of the Cistercian Order, was to become, along with Cluny, one of the beacons of Christianity.

Cîteaux Abbey, the abbey of the Cistels

It was in reaction to the Cluniac pomp and splendor, and in order to return to the strict rules laid down by Saint-Benoit, that Robert de Molesmes and his companions settled in a remote place, the Cistel Abbey.settled in a remote, marshy area of reeds and rushes, known in the Middle Ages as “Cistels”. These monks turned the difficulties they encountered into strengths, becoming farmer-monks, hydraulic engineers and winegrower-monks. The fledgling abbey soon spawned daughter abbeys (La Ferté, Pontigny, Bonnevaux and Clairvaux), which in turn spread to other abbeys. By the middle of the 14th century, Cîteaux was at the head of an immense European network.

I visit

Cîteaux Abbey: a visit under the sign of spirituality

More than 900 years after its foundation, the abbey is still governed by the same demanding principles: asceticism, liturgical rigor, solitude and hard work for the 35 monks who make up its community. In 1998, a tour of certain historic buildings was opened to the public. This spiritual and cultural trail offers an insight into monastic life and the Cistercian tradition, with visits to the library, the copyists’ cloister and the Definitory, where an exhibition shows how, for centuries, the monks were true specialists in land planning.

Abbey of Cluny, conventual building, front garden

3. Cluny Abbey

The Benedictine Abbey of Cluny had an exceptional influence on Europe.

Founded in 910, the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny had an exceptional influence on Europe, in political, artistic and religious terms. Both city and abbey, Cluny, even without its great abbey church, bears witness to the greatness of the monastic reform movement of the Middle Ages.

A monastic empire

Between the 10th and 12th centuries, the Abbey of Cluny became the center of a European monastic empire whose authority extended over 1100 priories and more than 10,000 monks. There’s a saying that goes: “Wherever the wind blows, the Abbot of Cluny is there”. For three centuries, from Bernon to Peter the Venerable, remarkable abbots established themselves as mediators and advisors to kings and the Pope, influencing politics and history. At its peak, Cluny’s temporal power and spiritual authority enabled it to launch major projects such as the reconquest of Spain, the organization of great pilgrimages and its involvement in the arts.

Architectural monks

The abbey extended its influence in the fields of music, painting and, above all, architecture, in the service of an unrivalled liturgy. With its high, barrel-vaulted naves, three-storey elevation and historiated capitals, Cluny created and disseminated the Cluniac style throughout Europe. In 1130, the Major Ecclesia was consecrated as “Cluny III”, a gigantic edifice with astonishingly harmonious volumes. With 5 naves, an ambulatory choir surrounded by 6 chapels, the church amazed medieval visitors, who described it as a “walkway for angels”.

An interactive tour

The visit is a must, and it’s a real blast! Augmented reality screens throughout the abbey, the 3D film “Major Ecclesia”,and the “Clunyvision” device reveal the city center’s past.