Abbaye des Clairets

Mâle (Val-au-Perche)

In 1202, in the forests of the Perche, Matilda of Saxony, daughter of the powerful Duke Henry the Lion, founded an abbey of Cistercian nuns in memory of her late husband, Geoffrey III, Count of Perche. Nestled near Nogent-le-Rotrou, the abbey of Les Clairets became a spiritual and social hearth for the region: it took in abandoned children and ran a boarding school for the young girls of the district, weaving a close bond with the local population well beyond the monastic enclosure. In 1692, while many religious communities were dozing off in comfort, the nuns of Les Clairets chose rigour instead: they were the first Cistercian nuns in France to embrace the austere reform of the Strict Observance. Sold as national property at the Revolution, the abbey was gradually converted into a farm, then from 1865 into a château — the present house occupying the former chaplains' lodging. A former monastic barn, turned into a private chapel, still preserves reliquaries bearing witness to eight centuries of devotion, while some liturgical items have found their way to the neighbouring parish church.

Getting there : 5 km south-west of Nogent-le-Rotrou, in the commune of Mâle, now Val-au-Perche (Orne)

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

Ambient sound