Fontenay or Cluny?

I haven't been to Cluny. You can see our visit to Fontenay which we found lovely here: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/edwins-law-at-fontenay-abbey/
I suspect an abbey is an abbey and that the choice is not momentous. We did find Fontenay more interesting than St. Antimo in Tuscany and about on par with Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

I haven't been to Fontenay (looks interesting Janet) but I have been to Cluny. In order to appreciate Cluny, where very little of the original abbey is still standing, you need to read up on the importance of the abbey in the Middle Ages and see drawings of the vast scale of the abbey given its importance at the time. To stand where the nave pillars are still visible at the site and to realize that almost all of the stone buildings in the village were taken from the abbey ruins was mind boggling to me.

The countryside around Cluny and the village itself is interesting. I especially liked excursions to Autun and Vezelay. Google these two cathedrals/abbeys too--fabulous examples of early medieval church building and stone masonry.

The basic difference is between an abbey that is intact (Fontenay) and one that is in ruins (Cluny). Fontenay also shows the restored water wheel/bellows/forge that was a major industrial breakthrough.

Your photos are wonderful Janet! I think we will see Fontenay--good to know the "Chocolat" town is not worth the effort.

I may not have done the 'chocolate town' justice -- it is worth a stop but I would definitely not make it a priority or stay there. Sometimes things just hit right or don't hit right on a particular trip.

I haven't been to Cluny but I understand that it's mostly a ruin, while Fontenay (where I have been) has largely intact buildings. On the other hand, Cluny was a larger and more important abbey historically. On the other hand, if it's in ruins, so what? ;-) Hopefully someone who's been to both places will post with a thorough analysis!

I agree about Autun and Vezelay -- especially Vezelay. Also, near Fontenay is Alise-St-Reine, site of the battle of Alesia where Julius Caesar completed his conquest of Gaul, as all us Latin-studying 9th graders remember. There's a very good museum there.

I've been to both. I think everyone has already covered it.

I agree with the others that you should spend your time at Fontenay, as it's easier to visualize life in an order, and there are buidings left to admire. It's a fairly typical Cistercian Abbey but it's charming and you get an idea of the daily life.

On the other hand, If you are interested in the founding and functioning of the Cluny monastary (or even just monastic orders) and its historical importance, Cluny may hold more interest. What you see there is what's left of the mother house of an extremely powerful, extensive order, quite unlike Fontenay. Cluny isn't the little monastary in the countryside. I agree with Mona on the mind boggling aspect of Cluny (the size of its church, the wealth of the order, the extreme power it wielded).

I also agree that Vezelay isn't to be missed and for a special treat, Autun is the place to go. We spent a week there, visiting Celtic, Roman, and medieval sites. Autun is deep France, far from the wine route, with few tourists but very interesting.

Edit: for Mona, Vezelay was a ruin too, down to just the foundations in places, until It was restored in the 19th C. Autun, OTOH, is pretty much all original carving on the cathedral.

@ Bets thanks for the more in depth information. I really want to go back and spend more time at these sites. We were there with students on day trip excursions. They all call me back to spend more contemplative time.

There is a little inn near Vezelay where we have stayed twice in visiting this area on travels between north and south of France -- Moulin des Ruats -- which we highly recommend. Charming place on the edge of the Morvan forrest on a small stream. On a nice day you can sit at tables by the stream sipping coffee and reading or enjoying the forrest and there is nice hiking from there. They keep live trout in the mill race which you can order up for dinner at the excellent restaurant which attracts people from the area especially on weekends. Tricky to find -- you have to look up the route, near Avalon and very close to Vezelay. We also visited Auxerre from there.