Abbaye du Moncel, Medieval abbey in Pontpoint, France

Abbaye du Moncel is a Clarisse abbey founded in 1309 by Philip the Fair at Pontpoint, in the Oise department. Its pale beige stone buildings form an L around a broad gravel courtyard: the left wing has a ground-level arcade of round-headed arches beneath rows of small rectangular windows, the right wing taller segmented-arched windows and a pointed doorway, and both carry steep roofs of reddish-brown tiles, with a small square clock turret on the left wing.

The monastery was founded in the early 14th century and housed a community of nuns for nearly 500 years. The French Revolution ended this monastic way of life and marked a turning point in the site's history.

The abbey is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and its first abbess, Pernelle de Troies, was elected in 1336; she resigned in 1344 and was beatified soon after her death in 1355. Queen Jeanne de Bourgogne, wife of Philip of Valois, asked in her will that her entrails be buried in the abbey church, and other noblewomen followed her example.

The abbey stands at Pontpoint, north of the Halatte forest, between the Oise and the old road from Pont-Sainte-Maxence to Verberie. The buildings form an L around a broad gravel courtyard, entered past the ground-level arcade of round-headed arches on the left wing. The courtyard surface is gravel, so plan for uneven footing after rain.

The abbey was founded in April 1309 by Philip the Fair so that the Clarisse nuns would pray for him, his successors and the prosperity of the kingdom. Work began the same year, two years after the king had the Templars arrested and burned. Twelve nuns moved in during 1335, four each from Longchamp, Saint-Marcel and Provins, ahead of the consecration on 27 March 1336.