Cadouin Abbey was founded in 1115 in a narrow valley south of the Dordogne River and is now listed as an Historical Monument. As early as 1119 it was attached to Cîteau Abbey (the Burgundian Abbey founded in 1098 where St Bernard, who entered the order in 1113, founded the Cistercians.) Cadouin quickly became Périgord’s most prestigious abbey, it’s notoriety stemming, in part, from the presence of a piece of material believed to be the shroud which enveloped Jesus in the tomb. The abbey grew rich from the pilgrimages to the relic.

What to See
The Romanesque church was consecrated in 1154 and exudes a twelfth-century Cistercian spirituality. The cloisters, built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, provide a magnificent example of flamboyant Gothic architecture.

The Abbey at Cadouin is registered on UNESCO’s World Inheritance list under the heading of Compostelle Paths in France.