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Cherlieu

Cherlieu, founded in 1131 on the site of a priory, is the seventh daughter-house of Clairvaux established by Saint Bernard. Run by Guy, its first abbot, one of the reformers of Gregorian Cistercian chant, Cherlieu abbey established itself in the region during the XIIth and XIIIth centuries by becoming one of the wealthiest in the County of Burgundy. Its income resulted from the successful management of its 17 granges, which was supplemented over the centuries by seigniorial, communal and parish income. Cherlieu abbey expanded five times between 1134 and 1162. Two of its daughter-houses were involved in the expansion of the Cistercian order in Europe: Hauterive (Switzerland) in Kappel near Zurich, Acey (Franche-Comté) in Pilis in Hungary. The church built in the last third of the XIIth century included a nave and aisles with ribbed vaults, a transept with four chapels with flat-ended chevet as well as an ambulatory choir with seven radiating chapels, based on the style of Clairvaux, the mother-abbey. The remaining wall of the north transept with well dressed stones and small protruding columns bears witness to the quality and sobriety of Cistercian architecture. It remains the only witness of a building which was used as quarry by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages from 1796 to 1842. It became a listed monument in 1984 and underwent significant restoration in 1992 at the instigation of the association Cherlieu, présence cistercienne.