Cherlieu Abbey (; ) is a former

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in the commune of

Montigny-lès-Cherlieu Montigny-lès-Cherlieu () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. The Cistercian Cherlieu Abbey was sited here. See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following ...

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Frainc-Comtou: ''Hâte-Saône''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, about 37 kilometres west-north-west of

Vesoul Vesoul ( ) is a Communes of France, commune in the predominantly rural Haute-Saône department, of which it is the Prefectures in France, prefecture, or capital, in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern Franc ...

and about 6 kilometres south-east of Vitrey-sur-Mance in the Forest of Cherlieu (''Forêt de Cherlieu'').

History

The abbey was founded in 1131 by a community of monks from Clairvaux. With the support of Renaud III, Count of Burgundy, it soon flourished, the monks numbering several hundred. Cherlieu was the mother house of two abbeys in what is now

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

- Hauterive (1132) and Haut-Crêt (1143) - as well as others in France: Acey (1136), Le Gard (1137) and Beaulieu-en-Bassigny (1166). Cherlieu owned several granges, wine cellars, mills and ovens. Adelaide, Countess of Burgundy, was buried here in 1279. In the 15th century the abbey was attacked by the

Écorcheurs The ''écorcheurs'' (, "flayers") were armed bands who desolated France in the reign of Charles VII of France, Charles VII, stripping their victims of everything, often to their very clothes. They were mercenary, mercenaries without employment sin ...

; in 1569 it was set on fire by

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

s under Wolfgang von Zweibrücken. It was rebuilt under Abbot Ferdinand de Rye at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1637 it was occupied by Swedish troops. In 1773 the abbot's house was rebuilt. It was suppressed in 1790 during the French Revolution and the premises were used as a source of building materials.

Buildings

Of the buildings, the kitchen and refectory of the 17th and 18th century survive, although without their roofs, as do some ruins of the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

from the 15th century. Of the 105-metre-long church, built in transitional style in the 13th century, all that remains is an imposing fragment of the wall of the northern

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

. The floor of the church is hidden under a layer of debris.

Sources

External links

Certosa di Firenze website: photos

{{Coord, 47, 46, 52, N, 5, 49, 32, E, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Cistercian monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Haute-Saône Christian monasteries established in the 1130s Monasteries dissolved during the French Revolution 1131 establishments in Europe 1130s establishments in France Burial sites of the House of Andechs