Cîteaux

How the French manage to create adjectives which are not or with great difficulty to be traced back to their basis will remain one of life's mysteries.

Abbaye de Cîteaux

A simple example: what are the inhabitants of the Île-de-France called? Franciliens of course! These sort of questions are quite popular in French quiz programs.
Slightly more farfetched is "cistercien", derived of course from Cîteaux, a place not far from Dijon, where the Cistercian monastic (Benedictine) order was founded. This order was at some stage heavily opposed to the Cluniac order, a monastic order, as one might have guessed, from Cluny. Cluny, according to the abbots of Cîteaux, had deviated too far from the rules of Benedict (ora et labora, pray and work).

Abbatiale - Cîteaux

The Cistercian order had, like its Cluniac opposite, many daughters and grand-daughters, of which a number in Provence are still in good order, and there are even a few abbeys operational (such as Sénanque).
The Cistercian monasteries were all built according to a similar plan. One could call them the inventors of modular building. The original Mother monastery Cîteaux ceased to exist around the French revolution, but was reinstated at the end of the 19th Century.

Officie - Cîteaux

Unfortunately almost all mediaeval buildings (such as the abbey church, cloister, etc.) are demolished, and rebuilt in a modern style. Despite this we always had in mind to visit this mother monastery of which we had seen so many daughters. There are organised tours, which can be booked through Internet.
As we had expected, apart from the library and the noviciat there were no other old buildings on the site.

Chapelle - Cîteaux

The tour starts in the reception area, where an excellent photo exhibition gives an overview of the very strict time table for the day as written down by Benedictus. After this introduction to the monastic life an overview is given of where the Cistercians are active nowadays (that is, outside Europe, in countries like Indonesia, the USA, South-America, etc.).
Next is a short visit to the cells on the ground floor of the library, and a more extensive visit to the first floor, which hosts a lovely collection of copies of illuminated letters (the originals are in Dijon).

Library - Cîteaux

The noviciat shows a number of things the monks occupy or occupied themselves with, and finally there was a film about monastic life.
Of the original (wooden) church only the foundation outline (in reinforced concrete) can be seen, and the same goes for the former hospital. In a few words: those interested in the history and development of Cîteaux will be a bit disappointed. Those however interested in the religious background of the monks of Cîteaux are being served well.

Kestrel - Cîteaux

Still, it is an interesting experience wondering around those historical grounds….
Click here for the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle.

A trip to the Berry (part 3 and last)

Apart from what was no my homework list, courtesy of “Bourgogne Romane”, I had found (in my newly acquired travel guide) some more thing to be visited.
Those places were in Cher (18) Bourges and Noirlac, and in Indres (36) La Berthenoux and Vic.

Cathedral - Bourges

We had planned Bourges (18) for an outing with the three of us, and that was an excellent choice. The centre of Bourges is interesting, with lots of half-timbered houses, and also the gothic cathedral, with a Romanesque tympanum was more than worth the visit. A pity it was so cold that day!

Abbey church - Noirlac

Noirlac (18) we visited the same day; the Cistercian abbey there is still in reasonably good state. Although not as impressive as the three sisters in Provence (Le Thoronet, Sénanque and Silvacane), the sobriety and simplicity of these huge complexes always impresses me.

Frescoes - Vic

Vic (36), part of Nohant-Vic, turned out to be a golden find. The church boasts an impressive collection of frescoes, covering the walls of choir and apse almost completely. The frescoes were only discovered in the 19th century, and George Sand, who lived in a château nearby, has seen these frescoes just after they had emerged from under a layer of plasterwork.

Left and right : narrow passages berrichons - Le Berthenoux

La Berthenoux (36) boast a number of interesting capatals, and has two very narrow passages berrichons (resp. 45 and 60 cm wide). We have spent only four days in this area, but in those four days we managed to see quite a lot of interesting things!

The link to the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle can be found here.