Abbaye de La Ferté-sur-Grosne

Saint-Ambreuil

In 1113, four monks left Cîteaux under the leadership of Stephen Harding to found, on the banks of the Grosne, the very first daughter abbey of the nascent Cistercian order: La Ferté. It thus opened the line of the "four first daughters" of Cîteaux, alongside Pontigny, Clairvaux and Morimond, which would go on to spread throughout Europe. For nearly seven centuries, the community prospered on the wine trade and the farmland of Bresse, before the Revolution sealed its fate: sold as national property in 1791, the abbey was almost entirely demolished, its stones scattered among the neighbouring farms. Only the 18th-century abbot's lodging escaped destruction, bought by a private owner who turned it into an elegant residence: it is now the Château de la Ferté, listed as a historic monument since 1993. Of the great medieval building site that saw the birth of the Cistercian adventure, all that remains, then, is an unassuming vestige, nestled in its park at the water's edge, yet charged with a founding history for the whole Order of Cîteaux.

Getting there : Reached by the D18 from Saint-Ambreuil, on the banks of the Grosne; the park and château cannot be visited but remain visible from outside

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

Ambient sound