Completed in 1509, the library included the cells of
the copyists on the ground floor, and a large reading room on the
first floor. It is the only preserved example of a building where
the library is superposed on the copyists’ room.
On the ground
floor, the cloister of the copyists, built in 1260, thus well before
the room above it, was restored in 2001. It was a veritable book workshop
and remained so until the end of the 14th century. The monk copyists,
illuminators and bookbinders worked in these cells.
"In one
of the cells, a monk can be seen at his work copying books. In another,
a small exhibition explains the technique of traditional book binding,
as it was carried out from the 12th until the 19th centuries. In another
again, a model shows the state of the abbey in about 1720."
The proper library
on the first floor is a vaulted room with six bays, which are 28 metres
in length, 8 metres wide and 6.3 metres high at the point of the keystone.
The books came from different places in the abbey and were collected
together. The inventory made at the time of the Revolution in 1797
shows that the library contained 10353 volumes. Reproductions of ancient
manuscripts of Citeaux, which are actually in the municipal library
at Dijon, are displayed here. The guides will explain the three styles,
corresponding to three periods of history.
The “Definitory”
is the place where the definitors met when they were preparing the
questions, which were to be debated at the General Chapter. Built
during the Abbatiates of Dom Jean Petit and Dom Nicholas Archer, it
was completed before 1699. The building, which is 80 metres long,
is very specific in its purpose, existing only because the abbey was
the head of the Order. It was conceived to be a common novitiate building,
and to be the Definitory during the General Chapter of delegates of
the abbeys originating from Citeaux
Today, a cloister
of vaulted rooms is found on the ground floor. Silhouettes representing
the different illustrious people in the Cistercian Order can be seen
there. Texts for meditation accompany each one.
Full
price : 3 €