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Noirlac

The construction of the abbey of Noirlac was started in 1150 by a small group of monks who came from Clairvaux. The abbey expressed the monastic asceticism of the Cistercian order founded by Saint Robert and Saint Bernard. From the XVth century to the French Revolution, the few monks in residence dedicated their time to the management of the community estate as well as to the spiritual life. In 1791, the abbey is seized as a public property. It then became a china factory during a major part of the XIXth century. The monument became the property of the Cher department in1909 and was the subject of a remarkable rehabilitation from 1950 to 1980, which gave back to the abbey its authentic character reflecting its original blueprint. The abbey took the path of modernity when new stain-glass windows were ordered from the contemporary artist Jean-Pierre Raynaud.