Abbey of Fontenay
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Abbey_of_Fontenay".

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	France
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv
Reference	165
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1981  (5th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Abbey of Fontenay is a former Cistercian abbey located in the commune of Montbard, in the département of Côte-d'Or in France.

It was founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1118, only a few years after he left Cîteaux Abbey to found Clairvaux Abbey. Located in a small forested valley 60 kilometres northwest of Dijon, it achieved great prosperity in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Fontenay enjoyed the protection of the Kings of France but was plundered in the Hundred Year's War and the Wars of Religion. Later, its fortunes declined, and the refectory was demolished by the monks in 1745. The abbey was closed in the French Revolution, and became a paper mill until 1902, owned for most of its period of operation by the Montgolfier family.

Plan of the church.

The abbey was bought by Édouard Aynard in 1905 and restored. Apart from the demolished refectory, it retains almost all of its original buildings: church, dormitory, cloister, chapter house, caldarium or "heating room", dovecote and forge, all built in Romanesque style, with later abbot's lodgings and infirmary. Today the abbey buildings are set in modern manicured parterres of lawn and gravel. It is one of the oldest and most complete Cistercian abbeys in Europe, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

Cloister

The church of the abbey was built from 1139 to 1147, and was dedicated by Pope Eugene III in 1147. It has a cruciform plan, with a nave 66 metres long and 8 metres wide, with two aisles, and a transept measuring 19 metres. The cloister measures 36×38 metres. The chapterhouse is vaulted, with heavy ribs. The large dormitory is roofed with fifteenth-century chestnut timbers.

Church and dovecote

Southern side of dormitory and common room

Cloister

Forge

References

• This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article of the French Wikipedia, dated 3 July 2006

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Abbaye de Fontenay

• Website
• UNESCO page
• Paradoxplace Fontenay Photo and History Page

	Interior of the abbey church	Cloister	Dormitory
Dovecote	Statue inside abbey church

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in France Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe · Amiens Cathedral · Roman and Romanesque Monuments, Arles · Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge, Avignon · Belfries of Belgium and France (with Belgium) · Bordeaux, Port of the Moon · Bourges Cathedral · Canal du Midi · Gulf of Porto (Calanches de Piana • Gulf of Girolata • Scandola Reserve) · Carcassonne · Cathedral of Notre-Dame, former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims · Cathedral of Chartres · Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay · Fortifications of Vauban · Le Havre · Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes · Lyon · Mont Saint-Michel and its Bay · Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems · Fontainebleau Palace and Park · Palace and Park of Versailles · Paris – Banks of the Seine · Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance, Nancy · Pont du Gard · Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley · Provins · Pyrénées - Mont Perdu (with Spain) · Routes of Santiago de Compostela · Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange · Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans · Saint-Émilion · Strasbourg – Grande Île · Vézelay Church and Hill

Coordinates: 47°38′27″N 4°23′23″E / 47.64083, 4.38972