Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bellevaux

Cirey

Founded in 1119 by Pons I de La Roche and Étienne de Traves, Bellevaux is a little-known jewel: the very first Cistercian abbey in Franche-Comté, and the first "daughter" of the powerful abbey of Morimond. Its broad wooded valley, between Vesoul and the foothills of the Vosges, well deserves its name. The church was consecrated in 1143, and the abbey enjoyed considerable spiritual influence when it received the relics of Saint Peter II of Tarentaise, canonised in 1191: Bellevaux then became a much-frequented centre of pilgrimage, and in its turn founded daughter communities as far away as Greece. The centuries passed and the buildings changed: the medieval church has now disappeared, but the conventual complex was largely rebuilt between 1786 and 1788, in an elegant style that bears witness to the abbey's renewed splendour on the eve of the Revolution. Private property since 1994, after serving as a holiday residence, the site retains a picturesque charm that has earned it protected status. The interior cannot be visited, but the 18th-century architecture, glimpsed from the surroundings, still tells of nine hundred years of monastic history — the abbey indeed celebrated that anniversary in 2019.

Getting there : Hamlet of Bellevaux, commune of Cirey, east of Vesoul (Haute-Saône); private interior, can be seen from the surroundings

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

Ambient sound