Fontenay (Abbey)

The south side of the dormitorium and the common room of the monks

Church facade

Until 1113, Sito Abbey remained the only Cistercian monastery, but then, largely thanks to the activity of St. Bernard , the order began to grow sharply. In 1113 and 1114, the first two subsidiary monasteries were founded - Laferte and Pontigny , and a year later Clervaux and Morimon . In 1118 , three years after the founding of Clervaux, Saint Bernard founded Fontenay in a forest valley 60 kilometers northwest of Dijon .

The construction of the main buildings of the abbey was carried out from 1130 to 1147 . Bishop Norwich Ebrard, who fled from persecution from England, settled in Fontaine and financed part of the cost of building the monastery church. In 1147, the church was completed and consecrated by Pope Eugene III .

The 12th and 13th centuries became a period of growth and prosperity for the monastery. In 1170, the right of the monks of Fontenay to independently elect an abbot was confirmed in the bullion of Pope Alexander III , in 1259, Louis the Saint exempted the abbey from taxes, ten years later Fontenay acquired the status of royal abbey, the kings of France John II , Charles VIII and Louis XII contributed to the further growth of the monastery.

The sunset of the abbey began with the era of the Hundred Years War . In 1359, Fontenay was captured and plundered by the army of the English king Edward III , in 1450 the monastery survived a fire. In 1547, the command mode was introduced, the abbey lost the right to independently elect the abbot, which only contributed to the decline. By the beginning of the 18th century, the number of monks was reduced from a few hundred to two dozen, and by the time the revolution began, only eight monks remained in Fontenay. In 1745, the monks even destroyed the large refectory of the monastery as unnecessary and in order to save money.

During the French Revolution, Fontenay, like other monasteries in the country, was closed. In 1791, it was sold for 78,000 francs to the manufacturer Claude Hugo, who turned the monastery into a paper mill that had been operating for more than a century. In 1820, it became the property of the Montgolfier family (from which the inventors of the airship came).

In 1906, the former monastery was bought by the Lyon banker and philanthropist Eduard Aynard. The factory was closed, until 1911, in Fontaine, large-scale restoration work was carried out financed by Enard, which returned the monastery to its medieval appearance. In 1981, Fontenay Abbey was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites .

As of the beginning of the 21st century, Fontenay continues to be owned by the Enard family. Most of the abbey is open for visits with organized excursions.

Church

The monastery church was built in 1147. The church is typical of Cistercian Gothic , has the shape of a cross in plan, high arches. The width of the central nave is 8 meters, the length is 66 meters, on the sides of it are two side naves, separated by columns. The choirs are square in shape, lower than the main nave. Mosaic floor covers almost the entire area of ​​the church.

The strict interior of the church with a minimum of decoration is typical for Cistercians. The most notable object in the church is the statue of the Virgin Mary with the Baby, created in the XII century.

Cloister

The cloister of the abbey is well preserved. It has an almost square shape, numbering 36 meters in width and 38 in length. On the sides of the cloister are four galleries, separated from the cloister by eight-span colonnades.

Hall of the Chapters

A vaulted arcade, framed on each side by double window openings, leads to the Capitol Hall from the gallery of the cloister. Initially, the hall of the chapels was square, on three sides it was surrounded by galleries with lancet arches. One of the galleries died in a fire in 1450. Vault castles are decorated with images of flowers.

• The scriptorium , also called the "room of the monks" is located behind the room of chapels. This is a rectangular room measuring 30 meters in length.
• Dormitorium (sleeping room) occupies the entire second floor of the building for monks.
• The monastery forge is located in the southern part of the monastery. Built in the XII century and originally served as a masonry workshop.

A number of the premises of the monastery, in particular, the hospital ward, dovecote and kennel, are closed to the public.

• John-Henry Newman, Raymond Oursel, Léo Moulin, L'Europe des monastères , 1985.

• Official site of the Abbey of Sito (fr.)
• Dr. D. Vess. Brief Introduction to the Cistercians