Pontigny Abbey (Abbaye de Pontigny)

What you will see

The church is a lesson in Cistercian restraint: long, pale and almost bare, with a 12th-century nave and a later Gothic choir. The effect is serene rather than grand. In the choir, look for the tomb of Saint Edme, with its canopy of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the carved stalls of the 17th and 18th centuries. The tomb of Hugh of Mâcon, the first abbot, is also here. Outside, the lay brothers' building survives near the church.

History

Monks sent by Stephen Harding, abbot of Cîteaux, settled here at the end of May 1114 under Hugh of Mâcon. The abbey grew rich in land, including vineyards at Chablis. Three archbishops of Canterbury came here. Thomas Becket took refuge from 1164 to 1166 during his quarrel with Henry II. Stephen Langton also stayed, and Edmund of Abingdon, known in France as Saint Edme, was buried here.

Huguenots pillaged the abbey in 1569, but the relics of Saint Edme were saved. At the Revolution the monastic buildings were sold and largely destroyed, while the church became the parish church. From 1910 the philosopher Paul Desjardins held the Décades de Pontigny here, meetings of writers and thinkers such as André Gide and André Maurois. Since 1954 the church has been the cathedral of the Mission de France.