Abbaye de la Charmoye

La Charmoye is a former Cistercian abbey in the Marne département, set deep in the Forêt de la Charmoye south-east of Épernay. Founded in 1167 by Count Henry I of Champagne, it was peopled by monks from Vauclair and became a daughter house of Clairvaux. After falling into commendatory rule, the church was rebuilt in 1636, yet by 1750 only five monks remained. The abbey’s surviving buildings include the 18th-century abbot’s house, a dovecote and several farm structures scattered around the woods. In 1790 the estate was sold; the church and cloister survived until the 19th century, when the church was demolished and its altar taken to Notre-Dame in Épernay. Visitors today walk through quiet woodland to see the abbot’s house standing among old farm buildings. The dovecote and remnants of the monastic farm recall the site’s agricultural past. The forest itself, once part of the abbey’s domain, still surrounds the ruins with tall beeches and oaks.