The abbey of Pontigny

Founded in 1114, Pontigny Abbey was the second « daughter » of Cîteaux, and in turn created other abbeys ; its abbots were among the most important in the Cistercian Order. The architecture is a fine example of Cistercian simplicity, while its height, luminosity, and innovations are remarkable. The church, 117 metres long, provides a precocious example of ribbed vaults and flying buttresses - early manifestations of the nascent Gothic style. Pontigny experienced an intense period of renewal in the late 17^th and 18^th centuries, reflected in the choir stalls, new cloister, organ tribune, and baroque reliquary-tomb of St Edmund. In 1843, the Society of St Edmund was founded at the former abbey, and in 1906, Paul Desjardins purchased it and established the celebrated Décades of Pontigny, a high point of early 20^th century French intellectual life.