Cîteaux Abbey

Cîteaux Abbey (French: Abbaye de Cîteaux) is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO). Cîteaux, formerly spelled Cisteaux, is the mother house of the Cistercian order.

The abbey has about 35 members. The monks produce a cheese branded under the abbey's name, as well as caramels and honey-based candies.

Cîteaux Abbey was founded on Saint Benedict's Day, 21 March 1098, by a group of monks from Molesme Abbey seeking to follow more closely the Rule of St. Benedict. They were led by Saint Robert of Molesme, who became the first abbot. The site was wooded and swampy, in a sparsely populated area. The toponym predates the abbey, but its origin is uncertain. Theories include a derivation from cis tertium [lapidem miliarium], "this side of the third [milestone]" of the Roman road connecting Langres and Chalons sur Saône, or alternatively from cisternae "cisterns", which in Middle Latin could refer to stagnant pools of a swamp.

The second abbot was Saint Alberic, and the third abbot Saint Stephen Harding, who wrote the Charta Caritatis, that described the organisation of the order. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a monk of Cîteaux Abbey, left it in 1115 to found Clairvaux Abbey, of which he was the first abbot. His influence in the Cistercian order and beyond is of prime importance. He reaffirmed the importance of strict observance to the Rule of St. Benedict.

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