Pontigny Abbey

11 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Zairon/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Zairon/cc-by-sa-4.0

Pontigny Abbey, the church of which in recent decades has also been the cathedral of the Mission de France, otherwise the Territorial Prelature of Pontigny, was a Cistercian monastery located in Pontigny on the River Serein, in the present diocese of Sens and department of Yonne, Burgundy, France. Founded in 1114, it was the second of the four great daughter houses of Cîteaux Abbey. It was suppressed in 1791 in the French Revolution and destroyed except for the church. In 1843 it was re-founded as a community of the Fathers of St. Edmund. In 1909 it passed into private ownership. In 1941 it became the mother house of the Mission de France, a territorial prelature.   read more…

Abbey of Fontenay in Burgundy

4 November 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

The cloister © Jjpetite/cc-by-sa-4.0

The cloister © Jjpetite/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Abbey of Fontenay is a former Cistercian abbey located in the commune of Marmagne, near Montbard, in the département of Côte-d’Or in France. It was founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1118, and built in the Romanesque style. It is one of the oldest and most complete Cistercian abbeys in Europe, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. Of the original complex comprising church, dormitory, cloister, chapter house, caldarium, refectory, dovecote and forge, all remain intact except the refectory and are well maintained. The Abbey of Fontenay, along with other Cistercian abbeys, forms a connecting link between Romanesque and Gothic architecture.   read more…

The Cluny Abbey in Burgundy

1 September 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, House of the Month Reading Time:  22 minutes

© Jan Sokol/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jan Sokol/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cluny Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to St Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches built in succession from the 4th to the early 12th centuries. The earliest basilica was the world’s largest church until the St. Peter’s Basilica construction began in Rome. Cluny was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. He nominated Berno as the first Abbot of Cluny, subject only to Pope Sergius III. The abbey was notable for its stricter adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict, whereby Cluny became acknowledged as the leader of western monasticism. The establishment of the Benedictine Order was a keystone to the stability of European society that was achieved in the 11th century. In 1790 during the French Revolution, the abbey was sacked and mostly destroyed, with only a small part of the Abbey surviving. Starting around 1334, the Abbots of Cluny maintained a townhouse in Paris known as the Hôtel de Cluny, which has been a public museum since 1843. Apart from the name, it no longer possesses anything originally connected with Cluny.   read more…

Chablis in Burgundy

12 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Porte Noël © Daniel CULSAN/cc-by-sa-3.0

Porte Noël © Daniel CULSAN/cc-by-sa-3.0

Chablis is a town and commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France. It lies in the valley of the River Serein and has a population of 2,300 inhabitants. Each year the Festival du Chablisien is held May to June in Chablis, featuring classical, jazz, and world music.   read more…

Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune‎ in Burgundy

14 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune is a former charitable almshouse in Beaune in the Burgundy region. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor and needy. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French fifteenth-century architecture, is now a museum. Services for patients are now provided in modern hospital buildings.   read more…

Noyers-sur-Serein in Burgundy

9 March 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

City entrance © Philippe Alès/cc-by-sa-3.0

City entrance © Philippe Alès/cc-by-sa-3.0

Noyers (sometimes referred to as Noyers-sur-Serein) is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France. There are half-timbered houses, ashlars, pillars and pinnacles. There are a lot of lanes and small squares made of chalky and granitic pavements. There are towers surrounded by the river Serein loops.  read more…

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