Abbaye de Fontfroide

Narbonne

Fontfroide was, in spite of itself, one of the stages of the greatest religious drama of the French Middle Ages. In 1208, one of its monks, Pierre de Castelnau, the papal legate charged with bringing the Cathar heretics back into the fold of Rome, was murdered near Saint-Gilles — a killing that lit the fuse and set off the Albigensian Crusade, with its train of pyres and sieges. The abbey itself prospered: in the 14th century, one of its abbots, Jacques Fournier, grand inquisitor turned pope as Benedict XII, left a lasting mark on it. But it was in the 20th century that Fontfroide enjoyed its finest rebirth: in 1908, the painter and patron Gustave Fayet, a friend of Gauguin and Odilon Redon, bought the abandoned estate and embarked on an impassioned restoration, calling on artists to recreate stained glass and decoration. His descendants still watch over the place. Today the visitor wanders between the pink marble cloister, the rib-vaulted chapter house and a rose garden of 2,500 bushes planted on the hillside, while the immense nave, 21 metres high, sober and luminous, is a reminder that Cistercian beauty has always known how to come through the darkest centuries.

Getting there : 15 km south-west of Narbonne, Aude; open to visitors all year round

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

Ambient sound