Abbaye de Clausonne

Abbaye de Clausonne is the ruin of a medieval abbey standing on a plateau in the commune of Le Saix, in the Hautes-Alpes department, at the foot of Mont d'Aujour, roughly 1,140 metres above sea level, surrounded by open pastures and forest.

How old is the abbey, and who founded it?

The abbey was established in 1185 as a daughter house of Notre-Dame de Lure Abbey, which was itself a daughter house of Boscodon Abbey. All three communities belonged to the order of Chalais, a monastic congregation that followed the Rule of Saint Benedict. It is worth clearing up a common misunderstanding here: Clausonne was not a Cistercian abbey. The similarity in period and setting to well-known Cistercian houses often leads visitors to assume otherwise, but its rule and affiliation were distinct.

What was daily life like for the monks?

The monks at Clausonne combined a life of prayer with demanding physical labour. They cleared the surrounding forest, cut timber for building work, sowed and harvested crops, grazed sheep on the hillsides, and cultivated medicinal plants. Throughout this work they observed a rule of silence, a common feature of Benedictine communities of the period. The abbey's remote mountain setting - a plateau below Mont d'Aujour, well away from any sizeable town - suited this self-sufficient, contemplative way of life.

How did the site change over the centuries?

The abbey's character shifted over time. An inventory drawn up in 1566 shows that Clausonne had by then become primarily an agricultural estate, leased out much like an ordinary farm. The document records sizeable herds of cattle and sheep, while describing the former monastic rooms as sparsely furnished - evidence that the religious community had by then shrunk considerably or dispersed, leaving mainly farming activity behind.

What destroyed the abbey?

The Wars of Religion inflicted serious damage on Clausonne. In 1573, Montbrun, a lieutenant serving under Lesdiguières, partially destroyed the abbey buildings. The final blow came in 1692, when troops of the Duke of Savoy set fire to what remained and completely destroyed the abbey's archives in the process. This loss of records explains why so many details of Clausonne's history remain uncertain or incomplete today.

What happened to the site after the French Revolution?

In 1790, during the French Revolution, the former abbey land was put up for sale as national property. For the next two centuries the ruins stood largely abandoned, gradually deteriorating under the harsh mountain climate.

What does the abbey look like today?

The turning point came in the 1990s. In 1994, General Mourrès called for work to clear and stabilise the ruins. The following year, in 1995, the remains of the abbey were listed as a historical monument in France. The Association of the Friends of Clausonne was also founded around this time, and it continues to look after the preservation of what survives of the old monastic complex.

Today, Abbaye de Clausonne draws visitors who want a quiet encounter with the history of the Hautes-Alpes, away from crowded tourist routes - a picturesque set of ruins set into a mountain landscape, occasionally opened to the public during events such as European Heritage Days.

Frequently asked questions

Was Abbaye de Clausonne a Cistercian abbey? No. Clausonne belonged to the order of Chalais and followed the Rule of Saint Benedict rather than the Cistercian rule, even though both types of community emerged in roughly the same historical period.

When was the abbey founded? It was founded in 1185 as a daughter house of Notre-Dame de Lure Abbey, itself descended from Boscodon Abbey.

Why is so little known about the abbey's history? The monastic archives were completely destroyed in 1692, when troops of the Duke of Savoy burned the remaining buildings - a loss that makes it difficult to reconstruct the site's full history today.

Can the ruins be visited today? Yes. A local association carries out conservation work around the remains, and the site is occasionally opened to visitors, including during European Heritage Days.