The Abbey of Notre Dame de Cîteaux: cradle of the order of Cîteaux.
The Abbey of Cîteaux is a Cistercian abbey located in the town of Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, in the department of the Côte d’Or, in the Bourgogne Franche-Comté region. It is the cradle of the Cistercian Order.
Difficult beginnings, then the peak of the citercians
It was in reaction to the prosperity and the zenith of the Clunesian Order that Robert Molesme decided to leave it, taking twenty monks with him and go to Cîteaux.
The Cîteaux Abbey was founded in 1098 by Robert de Molesme, an abbey of Our Lady of Molesme in the forest of Cîteaux.
The Cistercian Order, directly dependent on the Pontifical States, was officially approved in 1119.
Once the small group of monks arrived in Cîteaux, they received cultivable land from a family, who provided the abbey to them for the remission of their sins.
These lands allowed the monks to largely support themselves. The monks of the abbey then began to make their own cheese, sold in their store. This became their main source of revenue, and still is.
Little by little, Cîteaux, dependent on its mother abbey Notre-Dame de Molesme, became stronger and created sister abbeys: Ferté, Pontigny, Bonnevaux and Clairevaux. At the instigation of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the Abbey of Cîteaux became very rich in the XIIth century. Even today, it has thirty sister abbeys.
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The decline of the abbey of Cîteaux
Like most abbeys, Notre-Dame de Cîteaux was directly impacted by the French Revolution of 1789. The assets and land of the abbey were confiscated. A large part of it was destroyed and another part was sold in 1791 to become a rock quarry and then a factory and then a penal institution for children.
The Cistercian abbeys were all closed eventually during the revolution and that sounded the death knell for the Cistercian Order. Some monks continued to resist and believed in keeping their vows on pain of death.
It was only in 1898 that the abbey was once again occupied by thirty Cistercian-Trappist monks of the community of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, who complied with the rules of Saint Benoît “Pray and Work”. It is for this reason that an artisanal artist workshop is found in the abbey. It is primarily the sale of cheese from the abbey of Cîteaux, sold in the monastery shop, that supplies the monks with some revenue. .
During work days, from morning to evening, the monks meet seven times a day to pray. This return to the abbey has proved difficult, the buildings are not suitable, and poverty was extreme.
The abbaye Notre-Dame de Cîteaux today
Today, you can visit the abbey and also attend seminars. The monks welcome the public all year long during certain periods for one day or several weeks.
During your visit, don’t forget to stop by the monastery store. Here you will find cheese, spice bread and candies produced by the monks of Cîteaux. The library, a stunning building constructed in 1500, is also an interesting visit. The building regularly holds exhibitions of illuminated manuscripts as well as reproductions that demonstrate how active the monks of this era were.
Schedules and rates
- Guided visit of one hour and 15 minutes
- Regular rate: €7.50
- Reduced rate: €5
Hours and days of opening depend on the time of year:
- April 27 – July 9 and September 1 – October 1: Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Sunday mornings. Other days: 9:45A.m./12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m./6:00 p.m
- July 11 – August 31 Closed Mondays, and Sunday mornings. Hours: 9:45 a.m./6:30 p.m.
- October 21 – November 5: Open every afternoon except Monday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Visit the most beautiful medieval abbeys in Burgundy:
- Cîteaux
- Cluny
- Fontenay