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Clairvaux

At the outmost bounds of the Champagne region and Burgundy, Clairvaux is a land of silence in the very heart of the old Gallic forest. It is the place where, nine centuries ago, Saint Bernard came to clear the glade of the Val d'Absinthe to build the biggest abbey in the Cistercian order. Clairvaux has now become a prison, enclosed within endless walls which hide the beautiful remains of past splendors. But the Ministery of Culture has finally regained the historic parts of this walled town which can now, at last be visited. One can not only discover the superb building of the Lay Brothers and the Great Cloister dating from the 18th century, but also the well-known «chicken coops» of the ancient prison.