Abbey of Fontenay, Cistercian monastery in Marmagne, France
Abbey of Fontenay is a Cistercian monastery founded in 1118 in a valley at the confluence of the combe Saint-Bernard and the Fontenay stream, near Marmagne in Côte-d'Or. Its church, built 1127–1150, has a 66-metre nave and a 19-metre transept; the cloister measures 36 by 38 metres. The long pale-stone building with round-arched openings and a small bell tower stands on a grassy slope; the so-called forge lies 30 metres south of the main complex.
Bernard of Clairvaux founded the abbey in 1118; the monks settled in 1130 and Pope Eugene III consecrated the church on 21 September 1147. Louis IX exempted it from taxes in 1259 and it became a royal abbey in 1269. Sold in 1791 for 78,000 francs to Claude Hugot, it ran as a paper mill for nearly a century, then passed to Élie de Montgolfier in 1820. The Lyon banker Édouard Aynard bought it in 1906 and restored it to its medieval appearance by 1911; UNESCO listing followed in 1981.
The name Fontenay comes from the many springs on the site. The church holds a 13th-century Virgin and Child, long kept outdoors in the cemetery of neighbouring Touillon; the child holds a dove with spread wings. The floor is paved with ceramics that once covered the whole church, and the choir sits lower than the nave.
The abbey opens to visitors for much of the year, and the grounds are laid out with modern parterres of lawn and gravel between the buildings. The church, cloister, chapter house, dormitory and forge can be visited; the refectory no longer stands. The site lies in a valley at the confluence of the combe Saint-Bernard and the Fontenay stream, so paths can be damp.
The long building called "the forge", measuring 53.3 by 13.5 metres and standing 30 metres south of the main complex, has no architectural or historical evidence of metalworking. Comparisons with other Cistercian buildings suggest it served as a brewery and bakehouse. The abbey's ironworking activity is documented in the 12th and 13th centuries, but not in this building.
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