Tag Archives: Cistercian

The Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay: thumbs up from Bernard of Clairvaux

July 24, 2014 · by · in France, UNESCO World Heritage Sites · 11 Comments

You know those fantastical hybrid animal monsters abounding in Romanesque church art?  They really pissed off Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux.  I love to read and re-read his attack on Romanesque art extravagances in his Apologia c. 1124: But these are small things; I will pass on to matters greater in themselves, yet seeming smaller because they […]

Tonight I’m sleeping with the monks at Maulbronn Monastery

May 24, 2014 · by · in Germany, UNESCO World Heritage Sites · 2 Comments

Tonight we’re sleeping in a monastery ….well, almost.   Our hotel is a bona fide UNESCO World Heritage sight.   It was built here right beside the Maulbronn Monastery in Southwestern Germany (and these days it comes with Wi-Fi) The grounds of the monastery, which was founded in 1147, and the enclosed cloister are strikingly well preserved.  I […]