Cistercian
Burgundy
The first chapters of Cistercian history take place in
Burgundy where, in 1098, the first monastery of the order,
Citeaux, was founded. The men and women's abbeys, and
the barns and storerooms which belonged to them, were
the birthplace of a new, individual spirituality, as well
as a way of thinking, a collective organisation and working
techniques which went on to influence the rest of the
world. The route starts from the Citeaux Abbey and Clos-Vougeot,
still famous for the quality of its wines. What today
is a castle was once a simple "storeroom", in other words
a wine-making area where the lay brethren (the only ones
allowed to live outside the abbey walls) worked. Four
enormous 12th century wine presses are all that is left
of that era. At Gilly-les-Cîteaux, the castle stands apart
from the other Cistercian former storerooms. It was given
to Cîteaux by the Saint-Germain-des-Prés abbey after long
proceedings. During the Renaissance, it became the Cîteaux
abbots' residence. It has been restored and is now a very
beautiful hotel.
Not
far from here, in the heart of the Côte des Nuits
vineyard, the Perrière manor dominates the village
of Fixin with its squat outline. This former Cistercian
storeroom was also a convalescent home for the monks of
Cîteaux. Descending further into the vineyard, one
arrives in Meursault. It was here on the Beaune hillside,
at Christmas 1098, that the first vine given to the abbey
by the Duke of Burgundy Eudes 1st, was planted. The castle
at Cîteaux still has the vaulted cellars built by
the monks in the 12th century. The castle was completely
rebuilt during the 19th century.
At the south exit from Morey-Saint-Denis, above the Great
Wine route, still stands the impressive outline of the
medieval Clos de Tart storehouse with its imposing wine
press. This estate was acquired in 1141 by the monastic
Cistercians from the Tart abbey, the relics of which remain.
The Abbey of Bussière-sur-Ouche no longer has its
cloisters, but part of its prestigious past remains with
a wine press, a windmill and two dovecotes. The abbey-church,
having been shortened by two pews, is now the parish church.
There also remains a park which emanates calm and serenity,
in which it is worth taking a walk.
Not
very far from the magnificent Fontenay abbey rise the
vast 17th century buildings that make up the Val-des-Choues
abbey which houses collections of art pertaining to forests
and hunting. The park contains an ornamental lake, bird
shop and several cervids.
What is now the county of Yonne is also full of Cistercian
monuments. First there is Pontigny, the younger sister
of Cîteaux, which was founded on the 31st of May
1114 by twelve monks who originally belonged to the sister
abbey. Built in the second half of the 12th century in
the early gothic style, the abbey has a strict austerity
conforming to the law of Saint Bernard. The only decoration
on the entire façade is a simple cross sculpted
in the centre of the tympan. Of the monastic buildings,
there remains only the layman's wing.
In
the surrounding area of Tanlay, there remains the hospice,
the abbey dwellings and part of the cloistral buildings
of the Quincy abbey, founded in 1133 as Pontigny's sister
abbey. This charming medieval ensemble reflects all the
architectural periods from the 12th to the 15th centuries,
all of which is brought together in a pleasant rural setting.
The Vauluisant abbey in Courgenay, founded in 1127, saw
a dazzling revival in the 16th century. Most of the remaining
buildings date from this period, for example there is
a superb hall where the Vauluisant Festival concerts are
held.
To finish this visit of Cistercian Burgundy, there is
the Pontigny abbey in Chablis. In 1118, this second Cistercian
abbey already owned its wine-making estate, of which one
can still see the long vaulted storeroom which today houses
the "subjects" of the Piliers brotherhood.
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The
Lamartine route
Romantic
nostalgia is the theme of this seventy kilometre-long
route which follows in the footsteps of the poet Lamartine
whose birthplace was a continual source of inspiration
for him.
Alphonse de Lamartine was born in 1790 in a family-run
hotel on Bauderon-de-Sénecé Street in Mâcon.
In 1805, his family moved to Ozenay Hotel at 15 Lamartine
Street (thus named in 1842, whilst he was still alive).
The town pays homage to him with a museum which follows
his life history and works. The museum is laid out in
the Sénecé Hotel, which used to be the Mâcon
academy founded in 1805, and where Lamartine, in 1811,
became its youngest member. The route then leads on to
the Monceau castle, which formerly belonged to Lamartine's
uncle and was one of the poet's favourite residences.
It was in a pavilion amongst the vines, called 'Solitude',
that he wrote his 'Histoire des Girondins'.
Milly is an evocative place. It is here that Lamartine
grew up, close to his tender and affectionate mother,
alongside the wine growers of the region. The poet remained
attached to this house, built at the beginning of the
18th century by his great-great grandfather, all his life
and it was only when he was crippled by debt that he agreed
to sell it.
Close by, the Bussières presbytery should be familiar
to those who know the works of Lamartine. It was there
that Abbot Dumont, his first personal tutor and inspiration
for the character Jocelyn, lived. Nearby, the Pierreclos
castle holds the memory of Mademoiselle de Milly who became
'Laurence' in Jocelyn's poem.
The route finally ends at Saint-Pont castle which Alphonse
received as a dowry for his marriage. He lived a pleasant
life there, having friends to stay. At the edge of the
park, near the gothic chapel, one can see the poet and
his familys' graves.
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