posted on 2017-06-30, 00:00authored byG. Massiot & cie
The abbey church, built of limestone, was begun ca. 1139; it was sufficiently complete to be consecrated in 1147. It is therefore the oldest, though not necessarily the most representative, of the surviving group of so-called Bernardine churches.\u000a\u000aThe Abbey of Fontenay is a former Cistercian abbey located in the commune of Marmagne, near Montbard, in the d\u00E9partement of C\u00F4te-d'Or in France. The second daughter-house of Clairvaux, it was established by St. Bernard himself in 1118. In 1130 growing numbers necessitated a move to the present site. The abbey was bought by \u00C9douard Aynard in 1905 and restored. Apart from the demolished (1745) 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.
History
Alt Title
Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay
Date Created
1910-01-01
Date Modified
2017-06-30
Spatial Coverage
Montbard, Burgundy, France: 60 kilometres northwest of Dijon|+47.640833+4.389722|Montbard
Temporal Coverage
before or circa 1910
Cultural Context
Romanesque
Rights Statement
To view the physical lantern slide, please contact the Architecture Library.