FONTENAY ABBEY BURGUNDY
Oldest monastery in France - One of Best Preserved
St.
Bernard of Clairvaux founded Fontenay Abbey in 1118 and it is one of
the oldest Cistercian monasteries in France where the monks spent their
time between
prayers and mining iron. The Romanesque architecture buildings have
remained remarkably intact and preserved for eight centuries. The monastery
follows St. Bernard's original layout of Abbot’s
rooms, the Monks’ Dormitory, cloisters halls, Cloister Council
room and the Forge, still in pristine condition. The monastery was turned
into
a paper
mill
during the French Revolution, with the factory buildings torn down again
in he 
early
1900's to return to grounds to their original monastic state. The footpaths
through the surrounding forest offer quiet contemplation
and a visit to the Saint Bernard lagoon and some of the ancient iron
diggings give a sense of the monastic life. The Abbey Fontenay is a UNESCO
World Heritage site located in the
north
corner
of Burgundy where
it
meets
the Champagne
region
near the village of Montbard with a TGV Station,
about
an hour
drive
from
Dijon, 45 minutes
from Troyes (See DIJON
- Burgundy, Mustard N' Gargoyles or
2 hours from Paris, 6 km from the TGV station
at Montbard.
Nearby is
Chatillon-Sur-Seine, where the Seine River starts it’s meandering
journey toward Paris and where St. Bernard was educated and came to
his visions
and
miracles
(see St Bernard Milk Miracle). The Clairvaux monastery
is about 40 minutes away in the Aube Champage, but is mostly ruins, while
Fontenay is pristine and complete. St. Bernard of Clairvaux was also
instrumental in the story of the Knights Templar (See Hughes
de Payens Museum). For other abbeys and monasteries in
the region Abbey
Tournus is well preserved in a pleasant town on
the Saone River and Abbey
Cluny once one of the most important Benedictine monasteries
in France.
About 20 minutes away
to the south by car is the Chateau de Bussy-Rabutin near
the archeological
site
of
Alesia
(see Sacred
and Profane Chateau Bussy-Rabutin). The 16th Century
Chateau is surrounded
by gardens and canals. The Chateau and Abbey are open every day
except Monday and major Holidays and cost about 9 Euros each
to tour. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Web Info
Abbey
Fontenay
FROM LITTLE DRIPS MIGHTY RIVERS FLOW
The
mighty Seine River which has sustained France’s culture and
splits Paris like a winding schythe and parts around the island which
guards
Paris’ Notre Cathedral and the National Palace begins in the hills
of Burgundy, only a small creek in the town of Chatillon-Sur-Seine and
growing gradually wider as it meanders toward
Paris and the Atlantic. You can follow its course through a series of
small towns (mostly with sur-Seine in their names) and larger cities
throughout the Champagne region
, and for the wine enthusiast stopping to
taste a few
bottles of bubbly along the way, into the province of Isle de France
and to Paris where a sip of Champagne on the Left
Bank will cost you the equivalent to the road tolls you’ve paid
on the motorway. And watch out for those road side boxes that look
like
soda machines, waiting to snap your picture if you misread the speed
limit signs or lack thereof, but they’ll give you a ticket anyway
just for the hell of it. ©Bargain
Travel Europe
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SEE ALSO:
A TASTE OF WINE AND THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY
STONE AND GRAPES: THE CASTLES OF TRENTINO
KLOSTER MAULBRONN - ABBEY MONASTERY
