Fontcaude Abbey, Cazedarnes, France

The Abbaye de Fontcaude is a 12th century abbey in Cazedarnes, 20 km from Beziers. Ruined after the Revolution, the abbay has been an amazing restoration. It now offers its looks roman abbey, cloister, oil mill, museum of Gothic sculptures and a bell foundry from 12th century.

User Reviews

Geoffrey Earl (3 years ago)
Calm and ambient atmosphere . quite well maintained.

Debbie Mc (3 years ago)
Very interesting & beautiful

Tim Nichols (3 years ago)
Awesome

Dan Milnor (3 years ago)
It looked lovely from the outside, sadly it was closed despite it being past the opening time of 1000hrs. Shame really as I had just cycled for an hour and a half :-(

Russ Pinder (4 years ago)
Never got in.. no wheelchair access through main entrance and no attempt to offer an alternative entrance. Very disappointing and a waste of a trip!

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Photo from Flickr, copyright CucombreLibre

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Gruyères Castle

The Castle of Gruyères is one of the most famous in Switzerland. It was built between 1270 and 1282, following the typical square plan of the fortifications in Savoy. It was the property of the Counts of Gruyères until the bankruptcy of the Count Michel in 1554. His creditors the cantons of Fribourg and Bern shared his earldom. From 1555 to 1798 the castle became residence to the bailiffs and then to the prefects sent by Fribourg.

In 1849 the castle was sold to the Bovy and Balland families, who used the castle as their summer residency and restored it. The castle was then bought back by the canton of Fribourg in 1938, made into a museum and opened to the public. Since 1993, a foundation ensures the conservation as well as the highlighting of the building and the art collection.

The castle is the home of three capes of the Order of the Golden Fleece. They were part of the war booty captured by the Swiss Confederates (which included troops from Gruyères) at the Battle of Morat against Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy in 1476. As Charles the Bold was celebrating the anniversary of his father's death, one of the capes is a black velvet sacerdotal vestment with Philip the Good's emblem sewn into it.

A collection of landscapes by 19th century artists Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Barthélemy Menn and others are on display in the castle.

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