Fontenay Abbey
A Cistercian abbey founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1118, in a quiet wooded valley near Montbard. Almost all of it survives, church, cloister, dormitory, chapter house and the old forge, making it one of the most complete Cistercian abbeys in Europe.
- Where
- Montbard, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
- Grade
- UNESCO heritage
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site, plus 8 for its grade
- Coordinates
- 47.6397, 4.3893
Get the Fontenay Abbey stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Fontenay Abbey. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Bourgogne-Franche-Comté volume with your photos and a note.
Near Fontenay Abbey
Vézelay Abbey 52 km
A hilltop Romanesque abbey church built between 1120 and 1150, now the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. Its carved capitals and portals are among the masterpieces of Burgundian art, and pilgrims have long set out from here on the road to Santiago de Compostela.
Hospices de Beaune 77 km
A hospital for the poor founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, and now a museum. Its courtyard roofs of glazed tiles in coloured geometric patterns have become the emblem of Burgundy, and the wines from its vineyards are sold each November at a charity auction.
Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans 124 km
A royal saltworks built under Louis XVI and designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux as a semicircle of stone buildings around the director's house. It was meant as the heart of an ideal town, and is one of the first great works of industrial architecture.
Citadel of Besançon 132 km
A 17th century fortress by Vauban covering 11 hectares on Mount Saint-Etienne, on the neck of land where the river Doubs loops around the old town. Its ramparts look over the city, and inside are museums and a small zoo.
Cluny Abbey 136 km
The remains of a Benedictine abbey that once led a network of monasteries across Western Europe. Its great church was the largest in Christendom until St Peter's in Rome was rebuilt, and a soaring fragment of its transept still stands over the town.
Palace of Fontainebleau 152 km
One of the largest royal châteaux in France, a hunting lodge and autumn home to monarchs from Louis VII to Napoleon III. It became a national museum in 1927 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, and is surrounded by the great forest of Fontainebleau.
Bourges Cathedral 162 km
A cathedral dedicated to Saint Stephen, built from 1195 to 1230 over an earlier Romanesque church. It has no transepts, so its vast double-aisled interior runs unbroken from end to end, lit by some of the finest medieval stained glass in France.
Notre-Dame du Haut 167 km
A hilltop chapel by Le Corbusier, built in 1955, with a curving concrete roof like an upturned hull and thick white walls pierced by small coloured windows. It is still a working chapel, and is listed by UNESCO among the architect's major works.
More UNESCO World Heritage sites in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Questions
Where is Fontenay Abbey?
Fontenay Abbey is in Montbard, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Vézelay Abbey (52 km), Hospices de Beaune (77 km), Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans (124 km).
How do I get the Fontenay Abbey stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Fontenay Abbey and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Bourgogne-Franche-Comté volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Fontenay Abbey before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Bourgogne-Franche-Comté volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.