Founded in 1118 and enshrined as a Unesco World Heritage Site, Fontenay Abbey offers a fascinating glimpse of the austere, serene surroundings in which Cistercian monks lived lives of contemplation and manual labor. Set at road's end in a bucolic wooded valley beside a tranquil stream, this restored masterpiece of medieval monastic architecture includes an unadorned Romanesque church, a barrel-vaulted monks’ dormitory, and Europe's earliest metallurgical forge, complete with a working reconstruction of the hydraulic hammer used by 13th-century monks.
A self-guided tour, with printed information in six languages, is available year-round. From early April to mid-November, guided tours (in French with multilingual handout) begin at 10am, 11am, noon, 1.45pm, 2.45pm, 4pm and 5pm.
From the parking lot, the GR213 trail forms part of two verdant walking circuits: one to Montbard (13km return), the other (11.5km) through Touillon and Le Petit Jailly. Maps and extensive guides to plant life are available in the abbey shop.
Fontenay is 25km north of Semur-en-Auxois and 6km away from the Montbard train station, an easy hop from Dijon (€16, 35 minutes, 10 to 18 a day); from there, a taxi (www.montbard-taxi.fr; 06 08 82 20 61) to the abbey costs about €17 (more on Sundays and holidays).
