Clairefontaine Abbey

This article deals with the Belgian Cistercian convent; for the French Cistercian monastery of the same name, see Clairefontaine Monastery

Clairefontaine ruins, Arlon

Ruins of Clairefontaine Abbey, Arlon

The Clairefontaine Abbey was a Cistercian convent , find its historic remains close to Clairefontaine, which the Belgian town of Arlon in the province of Luxembourg belongs.

The monastery was planned around 1214 by Countess Ermesinde of Luxembourg and built after her death by her son Heinrich V the Blond .

The ruins of the medieval monastery can still be seen today.

It is said that the abbey, which was around 500 years old at the time, was burned down by French revolutionaries in 1794. However, since no trace of this fire has been found in the excavations so far, it can be assumed that the inhabitants of the surrounding Luxembourg areas demolished the abbey and used the stones to build their houses with it.

Jesuits from Arlon later built a Lady Chapel in which the sarcophagus of Ermesinde is kept.

The site can also be hiked on foot from the Luxembourg border towns of Eischen or Steinfort .

literature

• Andrée & Georges Despy: Les premières années de l'abbaye cistercienne de Clairefontaine. In: Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire , XLVIII, 1970, 4; Pp. 1207-1224.
• Michel Margue: De la fondation privilégiée à la nécropole familiale: l'abbaye de Clairefontaine - Réflexions préliminaires à l'étude d'un lieu de mémoire dynastique. In: Annales de l'Institut archéologique du Luxembourg , Arlon; Vol. CXXVI-CXXVII, 1995-1996; Pp. 57-91.

Web links

Commons : Clairefontaine Abbey  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Exposition: l'abbaye cistercienne de Clairefontaine. Exhibition at the Musée Gaspar, Arlon in collaboration with Amanoclair asbl and the Wallonia region.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Clairefontaine. European Charter of Cistercian Abbeys and Places, accessed March 21, 2017

Coordinates: 49 ° 39 ′ 57 "  N , 5 ° 51 ′ 57.5"  E