THE ABBEY OF REIGNY was built in 1134, by the abbot Etienne de Toucy, the monk of Clairvaux and under the authority of holy Bernard. Located in an exceptional site in border of the Cure, the land of the Counts d' Auxerre and Nevers, the abbey stake under the protection of the pope Eugéne III in 1147 was very powerful and prosperous in the Middle Ages, and was hosting up to 300 Monks.
In 1370 King of France, Charles V, put the abbey under his protection and a century later in 1493 Charles VIII made a Royale foundation. Unfortunately the One hundred years war (La Guerre de Cent Ans), the Huguenots and the French Revolution damaged considerably the beautiful building which however kept very interesting vestiges from its prestigious past : the exceptional Cistercian dining hall of the XIVth century (there are only three examples in France) with its elegant nave with double span which preserved its original polychromie, the room and the dormitory of the monks of which we visit the row of salons and dining room, which were reorganized by the monks in the XVIIIth and splendidly furnished, the gate of the XVIIIth century, a surprising dovecote of the XVIIth century with 3500 pigeon-holes in terra-cotta, and its two swivelling ladders.
From the demolished buildings, we can still guess the foundations thanks to the excavations which enabled to discover the bases of the abbey church so indicating the initial spread of the abbey.
Furthermore all the Cistercian hydraulic network was preserved.