Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 910, 12 monks founded a house of prayer at Cluny, vowing to follow the
rules of St. Benedict. The cult of saints and relics was enthusiastically promoted,
and the order was independent and powerful. From the start, the Abbot of Cluny
answered only to the pope (not to the local bishop or secular leader). The abbots
of the other Cluniac monasteries were answerable only to the Abbot of Cluny (not
to their local bishop or prince). This made the Abbot of Cluny arguably the most
powerful person in Europe.
The abbey's success has been attributed to a series of wise leaders, or abbots.
In fact, four of the first six abbots actually became saints. They preached the prin-
ciplesofpietyandpracticedtheartofshrewdfundraising.Concerningpiety,theab-
bots got people to stop looting the monasteries, and as for shrewd fundraising, they
convinced Europe's wealthy landowners to will their estates to the monasteries in
return for perpetual prayers for the benefit of their needy and frightened souls.
From all this grew the greatest monastic movement of the High Middle Ages.
A huge church was built at Cluny, and by 1100 it was the headquarters of 10,000
monks who ran nearly a thousand monasteries and priories across Europe. Cluny
peaked in the 12th century, then faded in influence (though monasteries continued
to increase in numbers and remain a force until 1789).
Museum of Art and Archaeology (Musée Ochier)
The small abbey museum fills the Palace of the Abbot (Palais de l'Abbée Jean Bourbon).
ThemodestcollectionfeaturesartifactsfromthemedievaltownofClunyandsetsthestage
for visiting the abbey site. There's a terrific model of the village and abbey complex and
a good short film about the abbey on the first floor up (French only but worth seeing).
You'll also see a beautifully carved stone frieze from a mansion in Cluny (first floor up)
and fragments of the main entry (Grand Portail) to the abbey church set within a model of
the doorway (behind ticket counter).
After touring the museum, cross the lane in front and step into where the abbey
church's entry would have been.
Site of Cluny Abbey
The best point from which to appreciate the abbey's awesome dimensions is atop the steps
across from the museum. Look out to the remaining tower (there used to be three). You're
standing above the end of the nave that stretched all the way to those towers. Down the
steps, a marble table shows the original floor plan (
vous êtes ici
means “you are here”).
