Dijon, Fontenay, and Vezelay–France

Our first stop on Monday, 11 November 2025, was at the Cathédrale of Saint-Bénigne which tells two stories at once: the high, patterned roofs and spire that mark Dijon’s skyline, and the older circle below where the city keeps its first memory of the place. Beneath the Gothic shell lies the year-1000 rotunda’s crypt, reopened in 2024 after years of careful work, which makes the building read from bottom up: early medieval martyrium, 13th- to 14th-century church, modern city around it. In 1792 the abbey church became the cathedral as Revolutionary reforms remapped the Church.

The walking tour continued, highlighting some architecturally significant homes and churches, and culminated with a visit to the Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne – a palace transformed into an art museum.

Following lunch, we made our way to The Abbey of Fontenay. The Abbey was founded by St. Bernard in 1118, and is one of the earliest Cistercian abbeys of the Cistercian order – which was founded in 1098 in Citeaux, France.

The Cistercians wished to reform monastic life and to apply correctly the rule of St. Benedict – who lived in the 6th century. His rule called for a life of poverty, based on self-sufficiency and solitude. Before building Fontenay, the monks carried out considerable works to clear and dry the land flooded by swamps. Indeed, Fontenay’s Latin name, “Fontanetum,” means: “which swims into springs.”

The abbey was very wealthy from the 12th to the 15th century, with a community of more than 200 monks. The monks led a life of utter self-sufficiency, and owned a large estate which they cultivated, farming livestock and creating an innovative forge. The Abbey went into decline in the 16th century, as the commendam system was introduced; instead of the Abbot being elected by the monks, the abbot was now appointed by the King.

At the time of the French Revolution, there were about 12 monks left in Fontenay. Sold as a state property in 1790, the Abbey was bought up in 1820 by Elie de Montgolfier – the descendant of the inventors of the hot air balloon; he transformed the property into a paper-mill.

In 1906, Edouard Aynard, a rich banker of Lyon, who was also a famous art collector, bought the Abbey back from his father-in-law, Raymond de Montgolfier. He undertook the massive restoration works which aimed at “extracting Fontenay from its industrial coating … by demolishing all the building of the paper-mill that had disfigured the site, and restoring Fontenay to reflect its Cistercian roots.

To view the Fontenay brochure, click here.

The day concluded with a trip to the Basilica of Vezelay. Established in the 9th century as a Benedictine abbey, the church became famous in the mid-11th century when the belief spread that it held the relics of St Mary Magdalene. It became a place of pilgrimage, all the more popular because it was located on one of the roads leading to Santiago de Compostela. The city benefited from the influx of pilgrims, as in the 12th century its population was between 8,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, a considerable number for the time. Vézelay then became a centre of great importance for the West. In 1146, St Bernard preached the Second Crusade there before King Louis VII, Queen Eleanor and a throng of nobles, prelates and people gathered on the hill. In 1190, Richard the Lion-Hearted and Philip Augustus met there to leave for the Third Crusade. In 1217, Francis of Assisi chose the hill of Vézelay to found the first Franciscan establishment on French soil.

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