Abbaye de Valbonne

Abbaye de Valbonne is a medieval religious building in the small Provencal village of Valbonne with a stone church featuring barrel vaults and sturdy pillars typical of the Cistercian order. The site includes connected residential rooms, cloisters, and a museum space that together form a complete monastic complex.

Monks from the Chalais order founded this abbey at the end of the 12th century and finished building the main church by the early 13th century. Later additions during the 18th and 19th centuries introduced new chapels and towers that changed its original medieval appearance.

The abbey houses the Museum Le Vieux Valbonne, displaying rural life artifacts and preserving an original dormitory within its stone walls.

You can walk through the abbey and its connected spaces at your own pace, with clear paths between the church, cloisters, and residential areas. The museum inside offers context about life here centuries ago and helps you understand how monks used each room.

The bell tower rising above the medieval buildings dates to the 19th century and marks the site from the village square below. Its height and design reflect later tastes rather than the austere style of the original monastic community.