Located in the north of Burgundy, Fontenay Abbey was founded in 1118 by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, one of the greatest French saints, and is the oldest Cistercian abbey preserved in the world. Classified as a French historical monument in 1862, it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1981.

After the French Revolution, which led to the departure of the monks, it was taken over as an industrial building, which preserved all the Romanesque buildings : the abbey church, the monks' dormitory, the cloister, the chapter house, The monks' hall and the forge. The Abbey is decorated with a landscaped park which was classified "Remarkable Garden" in 2004 by the National Council of Parks and Gardens. It is nestled in the hollow of a completely preserved valley that stretches over 1,200 hectares.