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L'abbaye de Fontenay
Fontenay Abbey is a Cistercian abbey in the commune of Marmagne, in the Côte-d'Or. It was founded in 1118 by Bernard of Clairvaux, and its name evokes the many springs on the site. The buildings were built between about 1127 and 1150, and it is considered the oldest surviving Cistercian abbey.
Its sober architecture reflects the monastic ideal of austerity. The complex includes the 66 m long cruciform church, the cloister, the chapter house, the monks' hall, the dormitory and a 53 m forge. A thirteenth-century statue of the Virgin and Child is kept in the church.
After a long prosperity, the abbey declined with the system of commendam, from 1547, then was sold in 1791 and became a paper mill for nearly a century. Édouard Aynard bought it back in 1906 and had it restored. A listed historic monument, it has been inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage since 1981 and remains the private property of the Aynard family.
