Beaulieu-en-Rouergue Abbey, Gothic abbey and art museum in Ginals, France

Beaulieu-en-Rouergue Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in the Seye valley, in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, now used as an art museum. The complex is made up of Gothic stone buildings with pointed arches and tall windows arranged around a cloister.

The monastery was founded in the 12th century by Cistercian monks and remained an active religious house until the French Revolution, when it was seized by the state. It then became a farm for many years before being restored and reopened in the 20th century.

The abbey displays works by artists such as Jean Dubuffet and Henri Michaux inside its medieval rooms. The stone walls and pointed arches frame paintings and sculptures in a way that makes both the old space and the modern art feel different from how you would usually see them.

The abbey is in a secluded valley and is easiest to reach by car, as public transport in the area is very limited. Allow enough time to walk through both the cloister and the gallery rooms without rushing.

The abbey's Occitan name, Belloc, was only gallicised to Beaulieu after Pierre Brache and Geneviève Bonnefoi bought the ruin in 1960. The couple restored it and in 1973 gave it, with their modern art collection, to the state; it now holds over 1,300 works, the largest French museum of art from 1945–1975.