CISTERCIAN ABBEYS: Flaran

Flaran

location:	Vallence-sur-Baïse, Gers, France
founded:	1151
daughter of:	Escaladieu
current status:	regional cultural centre
visit:	all year round
pictures taken :	June 2006
Though founded in 1151, it was 1180 before construction of the abbey was begun; it took about thirty years to complete. Despite pillaging by soldiers during the Hundred Years' War and further damage during the French Revolution, the abbey today represents one of the best examples of what a Cistercian abbey must have been like at the end of the twelfth century, though the last remaining walk of the cloister was almost lost to a New York antique dealer in 1913.

the cloister

the west door

the cloister

the chapter house

one of the side chapels in the north transept

the nave, looking west

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In 1098, aspiring to a return to the strict observance of the rule of St Benedict, Robert de Molesme founded a New Monastery at Citeaux. Within twenty years the Order of Cistercians had spread to four daughter abbeys, and continued to expand rapidly. By 1250, the order numbered 650 abbeys across Europe and the Near East. Though many have been destroyed by wars and revolutions, those that remain provide a fascinating collection of outstanding sites.

My first visit to a Cistercian abbey was several years ago, to Noirlac, in Cher in central France. I found the austere design of the Cistercian ideal so attractive that I have been visiting Cistercian abbeys ever since. Though they vary considerably in their state of repair, many are open to the public.

I am gradually adding photos and brief details of each of the abbeys I have visited, but anyone who wishes to add further photos or information by way of comment is most welcome to do so.

Kath Banks

July 2009