Sénanque Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque) is a Cistercian abbey near the village of Gordes in the Vaucluse department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, France.
It was founded in 1148 under the patronage of Alfant, bishop of Cavaillon, and Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona (Catalonia), Count of Provence, by Cistercian monks who came from Mazan Abbey in the Ardèche. Temporary huts housed the first community of impoverished monks. By 1152 the community already had so many members that Sénanque was able to found Chambons Abbey, in the diocese of Viviers.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Sénanque reached its apogee, operating four mills, seven granges and possessing large estates in Provence. During the Wars of Religion the quarters for the lay brothers were destroyed and the abbey was ransacked by Huguenots. At the French Revolution the abbey’s lands were nationalized, the one remaining monk was expelled and Sénanque itself was sold to a private individual.
The site was repurchased in 1854 for a new community of Cistercian monks of the Immaculate Conception, under a rule less stringent than that of the Trappists. The community was expelled in 1903 and departed to the Order’s headquarters, Lérins Abbey on the island of St. Honorat, near Cannes. A small community returned in 1988 as a priory of Lérins.
The monks who live at Sénanque grow lavender and tend honey bees for their livelihood.
It is possible for individuals to arrange to stay at the abbey for spiritual retreat.
Address: Abbaye de Sénanque, 84220 Gordes, France
Hours:
Saturday 11:30 AM–6 PM
Sunday 11 AM–6 PM
Monday 9:45 AM–6 PM
Tuesday 9:45 AM–6 PM
Wednesday 9:30 AM–6:30 PM
Thursday 9:45 AM–6 PM
Friday 9:45 AM–6 PM
Phone: +33 4 90 72 18 24
Adult : 8 €
Free visit with the Histopad: 8,50 €
Student (from 18 to 25 years old, on presentation of the card): 6 €
Child (from 6 to 17 years old): 4 €, free from the 3rd child under 18 years old with his/her parents.
Free for child under 6, for guides (on presentation of the card), for priests and for members of a religious order.
Shortest distances by car
From Paris: 7 hr 3 min (721 km) via A6 and A7
From Toulouse: 3 hr 56 min (377 km) via A61 and A9
From Marseille: 1 hr 19 min (95.2 km) via A7
From Nice: 2 hr 55 min (254 km) via A8
From Monaco: 3 hr 9 min (276 km) via A8
From Andorra: 5 hr 47 min (504 km) via A9
From Madrid: 10 hr 12 min (1,082 km) via A-2
From Moscow: 32 hr (3,231 km) via E30/M1
From Belgrade: 15 hr 38 min (1,580 km) via E70
From Istanbul: 25 hr (2,529 km) via E70
From Bern: 5 hr 49 min (564 km) via A1
See here France travel guide
See here Spain travel guide
See here Pyrenees travel guide
See here Andorra travel guide
