The monks of Sénanque welcome you to their abbey.
They open their monastery at precise hours, to share the monastic and historic heritage of the Romanesque Cistercian architecture.
During the tours, the monks stay into the monastic enclosure where they keep praying; that is why they ask you to respect the atmosphere of silence and contemplation.
Have a nice visit!
Comme l’enfant prodigue, il nous faut un jour ou l’autre, manger des gousses sur une terre étrangère pour redécouvrir, à frais nouveaux, le vrai visage de Dieu dont nous nous étions éloignés. Combien de prêtres pourraient témoigner de ces personnes que nous avons la joie de rencontrer un jour ou l’autre, et qui nous disent qu’après avoir traversé un désert spirituel pendant 20 ans, 30 ans ou plus, redécouvrent la joie de leur baptême.
Frère Jean – Paroles tirées de l’homélie du 27 mars 2022
Actuality
Spiritual retreats
Spiritual retreats
We are glad to welcome you for a moment of spiritual retreat to the Abbey. Our monastery guest house welcomes those who want to share our praying life in silence and contemplation. Meals are taken in silence.
A monk tasked to receiving guests can guide you to organize your stay.
Mass and prayers intentions
You can send us your mass and prayer intentions for living and deceased to abbaye.communaute@ndsenanque.org
Postal address : Abbaye de Sénanque – Père Prieur – 84220 GORDES
Offices
Masses and services are open to public. Please respect the atmosphere of silence and contemplation.
Click here for more details
Helping us by making a donation
You can help us by making an online donation (insérer le lien vers https://don.fondationdesmonasteres.org/soutenir ).
You can use our postal address : Abbaye de Sénanque – Père Prieur – 84220 GORDES
We thank you for your help and generosity.
Listen to the online album of the community – Lauds and Vespers
Since almost one thousand years, a Cistercian community prays and works in Sénanque.
The Brothers sing seven times a day to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours and in this disk you can listen to the Sunday offices of Lauds and Vespers. This disk is the very first one recorded by the Sénanque’s monks.
Monastic shop
In our monastic shop you can find products from Sénanque but also from more than forty other monasteries.
Selling those products is a way for us to support other communities, helping them to live from their work and to insure the maintenance of the monasteries.
You can also find local products, selected for their quality, fragrances and a vast bookshop.
Click here to see our online shop
Currently our monastic shop is open from Monday to Saturday from 09:45 to 18:00 and on Sundays from 11:00 to 18:00.
Click here to see the monastic shop timetables
© Py Rinquin – Abbaye de Sénanque
Visits of the Abbey
The abbey can be visited through a guided tour only.
The guided tour is made by a guide lecturer, in French only, and last one hour. For the non-francophones, we provide for free a HistoPad (tablet). The Histopad is available in 10 languages (English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Polish and Portuguese).
Visit timetable
From Monday to Saturday : 10:00, 10:30, 13:00, 13:30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 16:30, 17:00
Sunday : 13:30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:30, 17:00
Wearing a mask is mandatory and the number of visitors is limited. We highly recommend to book your visit online.
History of the abbey
The Abbey of Sénanque was founded on the 9th of the Calends of July 1148 (23rd June) by a dozen of Cistercians monks coming from the monastery of Mazan, located in Ardèche. Our-Lady of Sénanque was the fourth Cistercian abbey founded in Provence, after Le Thoronet, Aiguebelle and Silvacane.
© Corinne Brisbois
Community
Just like during the 12th century, a community of Cistercians monks is currently living in the Abbey of Sénanque, still following the rule of Saint Benedict.
Seven times a day, the monks gather in the abbey church to pray together.
Visits of the Notre-Dame of Sénanque Abbey
Situated, since the 12th century, deep in its Provençal valley, the Abbey of Sénanque is one of the most pure examples of the primitive Cistercian architecture.
