A listed former abbey nestling in the heart of the Forêts National Park,
on the edge of the Champagne region in Upper Burgundy
on the edge of the Champagne region in Upper Burgundy
Châtillon-sur-Seine,
COTE-D'OR
burgundy
21400
FR
Location
Situated in the north of the Côte-d'Or, the former priory of Val des Choues, seat of the superior general, was founded in 1193 under the reign of Odo III, Duke of Burgundy. This new monastic order was recognised by a bull issued by Pope Innocent III on 11 February 1205. After six centuries, the French Revolution marked a turning point. The religious orders were disbanded and the abbey's property - along with all ecclesiastical assets in France - was placed at the disposal of the nation and immediately transformed into national property. While many abbeys share this history, the Val des Choues abbey suffered a more severe blow when, like Cluny, it was used as a stone quarry, obliterating the monastic buildings such as the chapter house, dormitories, refectory and cloister.
Description
Today, there remain the hostelry and its farm surrounding the guest house for the noble patrons of the Order. Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre, grandson of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, frequently came to the abbey to pray to God or to hunt in the vast surrounding forest. The water mill in the distance marks the boundary line between the abbey, its parklands and its gardens. This is where, surrounded by French-style formal gardens, two freshwater springs have been tapped, providing the monks with a large fishpond (44 m x 62 m) and a waterfall.
The entire estate, extending over an area of around 7 hectares, is enclosed by an imposing 7-metre-high perimeter wall topped with flat limestone. The Val des Choues stream flows through the roughly 14 hectares of surrounding meadows and feeds the abbey's pond of almost 1 hectare. Elegant orchids, known as “lady’s-slipper orchids”, grow on the edge of the national forest, which completely encircles the estate.
Together with the additional communal woodlands, this national forest makes up an untamed, compact forest covering 12,000 hectares. This natural sanctuary completely surrounds the abbey, so that it suffers no disturbance whatsoever.
Created in 2019, the new Forêts National Park is intended to protect lowland deciduous forests and now stretches over the entire region. Straddling Burgundy and Champagne, this is the most recent of the eleven French national parks, the first to be located in the northern part of France and the closest to Paris. The Val des Choues abbey and the surrounding forest are classified as a 'core' zone, recognised for their exceptional natural heritage value.
The entire estate, extending over an area of around 7 hectares, is enclosed by an imposing 7-metre-high perimeter wall topped with flat limestone. The Val des Choues stream flows through the roughly 14 hectares of surrounding meadows and feeds the abbey's pond of almost 1 hectare. Elegant orchids, known as “lady’s-slipper orchids”, grow on the edge of the national forest, which completely encircles the estate.
Together with the additional communal woodlands, this national forest makes up an untamed, compact forest covering 12,000 hectares. This natural sanctuary completely surrounds the abbey, so that it suffers no disturbance whatsoever.
Created in 2019, the new Forêts National Park is intended to protect lowland deciduous forests and now stretches over the entire region. Straddling Burgundy and Champagne, this is the most recent of the eleven French national parks, the first to be located in the northern part of France and the closest to Paris. The Val des Choues abbey and the surrounding forest are classified as a 'core' zone, recognised for their exceptional natural heritage value.
The princes’ house
Dedicated to piety and poverty, the monastic order is not under the authority of an abbot but of a prior. The guest house of the priory therefore replaced the Cistercian abbot's palace and was called the "princes' house". This is the reason why this building stood alongside the abbey church and, thanks to a gallery on the first floor, people could come and attend church services from there. Its slate gambrel roof, in the style of the architect Mansard, features hip dormer windows. The grand hanging Burgundy stone staircase leads up to 2 storeys above the ground level. Its solid oak balusters are a paragon of elegance.
On the left side of the staircase, both on the ground and first floors, all the rooms are vaulted and of tufa limestone, a light, insulating material. These limestone formations, typical of the region, are extracted from the tufa marshes that often occur at the bottom of the valley. On the right-hand side, the rooms have ceilings with decorative mouldings and heights of around 4.20 m. All the rooms have stone fireplaces.
These comforts, far from monastic humility, bear witness to the special care taken to welcome the noble patrons of the order.
The ground floor
The main entrance hall has flagstone flooring and opens onto the impressive hanging staircase. Entirely carved from pink-veined Burgundy stone, its solid oak balustrade reflects the period of Louis XIV. The flights of stairs separated by half-landings are carved from a single block. The half-landings are made of single blocks of stone. The lavatories are located under the staircase, as they would be in any large house. To the right is the summer sitting room with a ceiling height of approx. 2.40 m and large arched windows overlooking the English-style landscaped gardens. To the left, the vaulted dining room with its fireplace leads to a flagstone floored, vaulted service entrance and a vaulted landing followed by the also vaulted kitchen. This room features a central fireplace with a raised hearth. The kitchen leads to two service entrances with flagstone flooring, a laundry room, a boiler room, a large paved, vaulted study with a fireplace, a first paved, vaulted guest bedroom with a fireplace and a shower room with separate lavatory. A second guest bedroom suite comprises an entrance area, a children's bedroom and a master bedroom with bathroom and lavatory. These guest rooms are all on the ground floor and open onto the gardens and the main courtyard.
The first floor
The wide stone staircase provides access to the first floor. The Burgundy stone landing leads off to the left into the winter sitting room. The full-width room facing east-west features oak parquet flooring, a period fireplace and a ceiling with a cornice at a hight of 4.20 m. To the right, the landing leads to a succession of rooms: a vaulted master bedroom with Versailles panelled parquet flooring and a period Burgundy stone fireplace, then a small study with Versailles parquet flooring, a vaulted bathroom and shower room with toilet. A vast closet under exposed roof timbers completes the suite of rooms.
The second floor
The hanging staircase continues upwards to a first landing with separate lavatory, which leads to a flat comprising a sitting room, bedroom and shower room. A second landing serves a corridor leading to a suite of three children's bedrooms and a bathroom under sloping ceilings.
The monks’ guest house
This is still in use today, as the abbey is open to the public. As soon as the bell rings, the large carriage entrance and its side door open up and welcome visitors and guests staying in the gîtes and B&Bs. The north and west buildings contain: the caretaker's lodgings, the reception hall and sanitary facilities (meeting ERP standards for facilities receiving the public), a restaurant seating 40 people and its kitchen, a tea room, two gîtes with 9 bedrooms and 8 bath/shower rooms, a laundry room, a catering room, a wedding reception room seating 250 people and a boiler room with an oil-fired boiler for forced-air central heating.
The ground floor
The caretaker's accommodation comprises an entrance corridor, a storeroom, a large kitchen with fireplace, a scullery, two bedrooms and a shower room with toilet. The reception hall leads to the sanitary facilities, a dining room with fireplace, a kitchen with fireplace, a tea room, an equipped catering room, all of which are vaulted, a suite of three tiled wedding rooms, all of these with flagstone flooring, and finally, a boiler room for forced-air central heating.
The museum
Directly accessed from the main entrance, the private museum was renovated in 2018 with financial support from the French government and the Fondation de France. Dedicated to the history of hunting, the museum takes up part of the ground and first floors of the north and east buildings and comprises 8 rooms. The refurbishment work included both structural and finishing work: framework, roofing, zinc work, rendering of the facade, central heating, telephone, Internet, security and electrical networks. Everything is bright and complies with ERP standards (Etablissement Recevant du Public). The presence, security and fire detectors are optimised and compatible with the building's listed status.
The stables
Located in a dedicated courtyard a short distance from the abbey, the stables comprise a timber-framed building with 15 indoor stalls with constant-level drinking troughs, a tack room and a horse shower with hot and cold water. The roofed hayloft stores hay and straw, distributed through hatches. A south-facing extension offers 5 outdoor stalls and a horse shower. An electric hot walker (with reversing and gait adjustment) for 4 horses completes the installation.
The watermill
This is an essential part of a monastery. Its rotational energy enabled the monks to produce flour and oil. Thanks to the underground hydraulic network, the mill captures the water from the large fish pond and releases it downstream for domestic use. Built on two levels, the building has lost its wheels and millstone, and is therefore no longer used as a mill.
The parkland and the gardens
The abbey and its 7-hectare grounds are set in a valley within the vast Châtillon forest. The colour and brightness of its parklands and gardens stand in stark contrast to the surrounding dark forest. It was here that the monks tapped the large spring that feeds the large fishpond with its cascading waterfall. An underground hydraulic system provides water for fountains, ponds and water features all along its course.
Near the princes' house, the English-style landscaped gardens protect the privacy of the owners. The formal French gardens, laid out according to a simple design, can be found a little further on, past the monks' mill. Fountains steeped in legends dot the paths here and there. The large fish pond lies at the top of the gardens. This is the highlight of these unusual grounds, built of Burgundy stone and of exceptional dimensions (62 m x 44 m). Finally, vast sloping parklands surround the gardens right up to the impressive 7-metre-high perimeter walls.
On one of these hillsides, at the bend of a grove of ash trees, there is a small paved and vaulted underground lodging with a single door and a high window. Legend has it that this was the first shelter for the hermit who founded the order. It is even said that on the day he left for the abbey that had finally been built, a miracle caused a spring to gush forth, forever preventing the premises from being inhabited. Given the quality of this water, the locals believe it to have therapeutic, almost miraculous properties, curing certain eye ailments.
Finally, even though the forest surrounding the abbey is populated by big game, a park containing small deer and hinds provides an opportunity to observe the animals from the windows of the princes' house.
Our opinion
Once inhabited by the Celts, then taken over by monk-builders, these sites have long been under the protection of the cross. Now, as part of the Fôret National Park, they are under the protection of the State as part of its exceptional cultural and heritage contribution to unspoilt nature.
Nothing disturbs the silence that surrounds the site. No nocturnal light pollution will interfere with the observation of the stars or with divine worship.
As all the buildings are listed, it will be possible to carry out the work required to guarantee perfect comfort.
The existing hospitality activity, which includes wedding receptions, letting of self-catering cottages or bed and breakfast accommodation, as well as public visits, could be continued if the purchaser so wishes.
3 500 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 218970
| Land registry surface area | 20 ha 98 a 30 ca |
| Main building surface area | 641 m2 |
| Number of bedrooms | 20 |
Aucune procédure en cours menée sur le fondement des articles 29-1 A et 29-1 de la loi n°65-557 du 10 juillet 1965 et de l’article L.615-6 du CCH
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NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.
