Site of the abbey of Clairvaux (Aube)
On this site, belonging to the State - Ministry of Culture/ DRAC Grand Est coexist the former Cistercian abbey, founded by Saint Bernard, and the Central House, the visit takes you through 900 years of monastic and prison imprisonment stories... With the planned departure, in the first half of 2023, of the Central House, the State, in partnership with local authorities, has been engaged, since the end of 2020, in a process of site conversion.
Until 2002, the former Clairvaux Abbey was the exclusive property of the Ministry of Justice. A part of the buildings of the former abbey, abandoned and not used by the prison - including the Convers building - was returned to the Ministry of Culture on that date, in order to consider the restoration and a greater openness to the public.
The State/ Ministry of Culture has entrusted to the association "Renaissance de l'abbaye de Clairvaux" the animation of the site.