Pontigny Abbey

Pontigny Abbey church

Choir of the abbey church

Ground plan of the abbey church

Pontigny Abbey (French: Abbaye de Pontigny) was a was a Cistercian monastery. Recently, it has been the cathedral for the Mission de France. For the Mission de France, it is the Territorial Prelature of Pontigny (French: Cathédrale-abbatiale de Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption à Pontigny). The Abbey is in Pontigny on the River Serein, in the present diocese of Sens and department of Yonne, Burgundy, France. It was founded in 1114. The church was the 2nd great daughter house of Cîteaux Abbey. In 1791 in the French Revolution, it stopped being a church. The abbey, except for the church, was destroyed. In 1843, it was refounded as part of the Fathers of St. Edmund. The abbey became private property in 1909. In 1941 it became the mother house of the Mission de France. The Mission de France is a territorial prelature.

Burials

There have been many burials in this church. Some of these are:

• Adèle of Champagne (1145–1206), queen of Louis VII of France
• Saint Edmund of Abingdon (c. 1180–1240), Archbishop of Canterbury
• Paul Desjardins (1859–1940)

Other websites

• (in German) Pictures of Pontigny
• (in French) History of the Abbey
• (in French) Architecture of Pontigny
• Cistercian Foundation Abbey of Pontigny - History & Photos