Abbaye Notre-Dame de Longpont

Longpont

On the edge of the forest of Retz, Longpont preserves the grandiose ruins of one of the great Cistercian abbeys of the Soissonnais. Founded in 1131–1132 by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who sent twelve monks there — the first mass was celebrated at Easter 1132 —, confirmed by Louis VI in 1133 and placed under the protection of Pope Innocent II in 1141, the abbey raised from the 1190s a Gothic abbey church of dimensions comparable to those of Soissons Cathedral. It was consecrated in 1227 in the presence of the young Louis IX, the future Saint Louis, and of Blanche of Castile. The memory of the place is bound up above all with the Blessed Jean de Montmirail, a great lord who withdrew from the world and died at Longpont in 1217 as a simple monk, surrounded ever since by an enduring local veneration. Plundered in the 16th century by English, Burgundians and Calvinists, ravaged by fire in 1724, sold at the Revolution in 1793, the abbey church took nearly forty years to be reduced to ruins. Bought back in 1804 by Count Henri de Montesquiou, whose family still watches over the place, the remains have been listed as historic monuments since 1889.

Getting there : Village of Longpont (02600), some 15 km south-west of Soissons; parking near the town hall, ruins and gatehouse in the centre of the village, guided tours (private estate).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound