Abbey de Fontenay
Nestled in a valley in Burgundy, the Abbaye de Fontenay (Fontenay Abbey) is a well-restored 12th-century Cistercian monastery founded by St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
The Abbey of Fontenay was founded by St. Bernard of Clairvaux in 1118 on land he received from his uncle in a valley in Burgundy.
Cistercian monks moved into the abbey in 1130. In 1139, the Bishop of Norwich fled to Fontenay to escape persecution, and used his considerable wealth to help finance the building of the abbey church.
The abbey church at Fontenay was consecrated by Pope Eugene III in 1147. By 1200 the monastic complex was largely complete and large enough to serve 300 monks. In 1259, the devout King Louis exempted the Abbey of Fontenay from all taxes, and 10 years later the abbey became a French royal abbey.
In 1359, the Abbey of Fontenay was pillaged by the armies of King Edward III of England during the Hundred Years' War. It further suffered during the Wars of Religion. In 1745, the refectory was destroyed. 1789 saw the beginning of the French Revolution, and in 1790, the last eight monks left the abbey. Revolutionaries sold the abbey, which was turned into a paper mill.
In 1852, the fortunes of the abbey began to look up when it was designated a historical site. In 1906, a banker from Lyon bought the abbey/paper mill and determined to return it to its medieval glory. Restorations were conducted until 1911. In 1960, the monastic dormitory was restored.
UNESCO declared the Abbey of Fontenay a World Heritage Site in 1981, and restoration continued into the 1990s. In 1997, the abbey celebrated its 850 th anniversary. Today, the monastery welcomes nearly 120,000 visitors a year.
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