L'Abbaye du Thoronet, monument historique du Var %

The history of Le Thoronet Abbey

Mainlybuilt between 1160 and 1190, the Abbaye du Thoronet exudes an impression of unity and great serenity. The church, monks' building and cloister are all built of cut stone laid without mortar, using an ancestral and austere technique that expresses the very essence of Cistercian art: bareness, purity and simplicity. Stone and light are combined to perfection, and emotion is born from the absolute bareness of the architecture of Le Thoronet Abbey. Here, for centuries, the stones have carried the songs of the monks thanks to the unique acoustics of Le Thoronet Abbey, and the guides who today carry on the tradition.

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Le Thoronet Abbey, an architectural marvel

Situated upstream from the village of Le Thoronet and accessible by car or bike along pleasant country lanes, theAbbey of Le Thoronet has inspired many twentieth-century architects. Le Corbusier visited it in 1953. In 1964, Fernand Pouillon wrote a beautiful novel, "Les pierres sauvages", about the construction of the Abbey. Thenovel focuses onhow the Cistercian monksworked the stones: " ...Most of the stones will be treated roughly, roughly: we'll save time. The sun will catch the facets, the splinters, and make the glittering material precious..."

©Var Tourisme / LCI

Les Musicales de l'Abbaye du Thoronet

A monument to silence and contemplation, Le Thoronet Abbey has nevertheless forged a long relationship with music.

For thirty years, the Rencontres internationales de musique ancienne du Thoronet brought together the finest vocal and instrumental ensembles in the field of early music to this major heritage site in the south of France, all of whom came away fascinated by the abbey's unique acoustics.

The demise of the Rencontres, a decision taken by the association that organised them, prompted the Centre des Monuments Nationaux to continue what had become a tradition, and in 2022 it created Les Musicales de l'Abbaye du Thoronet, a new series of concerts of so-called classical music, deliberately open to a vast repertoire, from Gregorian to contemporary, and showcasing several areas of the abbey: the abbey church, of course, but also the cloister and the grounds.

Find out more about the Musicales de l'Abbaye du Thoronet