Tart Abbey, Cistercian abbey ruins in Tart-l'Abbaye, France

Tart Abbey is a ruined Cistercian nunnery on the banks of the Ouche near Genlis in Burgundy's Côte-d'Or. Only scattered remains survive, including a tall upright stone slab with a rounded top, carved in relief with a spiral-headed staff above the numerals 1723, standing beside stone steps and low vegetation.

Tart Abbey was the first nunnery of the Cistercian order, founded by Arnoul Cornu, lord of Tart-le-Haut, and his wife Emeline; the foundation charter is dated 1132, though it mentions earlier gifts from 1125. Elizabeth de Vergy, widow of Humbert de Mailly, served as first abbess for forty years. In 1623 the community moved to Dijon, and in 1636 troops of Matthias Gallas burned the abbey buildings at Tart, leaving only an isolated chapel.

The nuns were called the "Dames de Tart" and sold wine from their own vineyards, including five hectares of the Clos-de-Tart acquired in 1141 and plots at Beaune, Chambolle, Morey, Chézeaux and Vosne-Romanée. Their white wines, low in alcohol, were meant for sale as well as for the community's table.

Only ruins of the abbey remain at Tart-l'Abbaye, on the banks of the Ouche near Genlis, a few kilometres from Cîteaux. The site is an outdoor one, so plan for uneven ground and weather; the stone slab carved with a spiral-headed staff and the date 1723 stands beside stone steps. The community's archive and later home are in Dijon, rue Sainte-Anne, where the convent now holds the Musée de la vie bourguignonne.

The carved slab at the ruins bears the date 1723 and a spiral-headed staff, a detail most visitors walk past. The community itself was reduced to five nuns and two novices when it left for Dijon on 24 May 1623.