Opening hours and tickets
- Opening hours
- 3 April to 1 November: every day, 10:00 to 18:00
- 2 November to 2 April: every day, 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00
- Admission
- Paid
- Booking
- Not needed
Checked on on the official site.
Fontenay Abbey (Abbaye de Fontenay)
One of the best-preserved Cistercian abbeys in the world, alone in a quiet wooded valley of the Auxois.
- Abbey or church
- 1 h 14 from Beaune
- Open all year
- Allow 1.5 to 2 hours
€265one way from Beaune with a private driver
At a glance
- Where
- Marmagne · Côte-d'Or
- Official website
- abbayedefontenay.com
Getting there
Private driver from Beaune: 1 h 14 by road (99 km), €265 one way for the whole car.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
About the place
Fontenay Abbey lies at the end of a green valley near Montbard, about 1 hour 15 minutes north-west of Beaune. Founded by Bernard of Clairvaux, it keeps its main 12th-century buildings. The church, cloister, dormitory and forge still show the plain beauty of early Cistercian life.
What you will see
The visit follows the daily life of the monks. You enter the bare, luminous abbey church, then walk the cloister and the vaulted chapter house. Upstairs, the monks' dormitory has a great timber roof shaped like an upturned ship's hull. Across the lawn stands the forge, a long workshop by the stream where a hydraulic hammer is on show. Formal gardens and the wooded valley complete the setting.
History
Bernard of Clairvaux founded Fontenay in 1118. In 1130 the monks settled in a marshy valley fed by springs, drained the land and built a church between 1139 and 1147. Pope Eugene III consecrated it in 1147. One early resident was Ebrard, a former bishop of Norwich, who retired here around 1145. The monks lived from the fields, woods and streams of their valley. In 1259 King Louis IX freed the abbey from taxes, and in 1269 it became a royal abbey.
The Revolution emptied the abbey, and in 1791 it was sold and turned into a paper mill. In 1820 the paper maker Élie de Montgolfier, nephew of the balloon inventors, bought it. The mill closed in 1905. The Lyon banker Édouard Aynard, who had married into the Montgolfier family, bought the site in 1906 and removed the industrial additions. His descendants still own and run the abbey, which UNESCO listed as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Planning your visit
Tips for your visit
Allow one and a half to two hours. The abbey is about 1 hour 15 minutes from Beaune, and pairs well with Montbard or the MuséoParc Alésia on the same day. Visits are self-guided, and guided tours can be booked on the abbey's website. Wear comfortable shoes for the gardens and grounds.
Around here
What to combine with Fontenay Abbey on the same day, nearest first.
Guides about Fontenay Abbey
Questions
Fontenay Abbey is about 1 h 14 from Beaune by road (99 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €265 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? Fontenay receives almost no public money. Apart from a few major restorations, the family who owns it pays for its upkeep with ticket sales and its own resources.
Sources
Fontenay Abbey with a private driver
€265 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests