CISTERCIAN ABBEY OF BONLIEU

On the edge of the Tardes, between the ancient provinces of the Haute Marche and the Combraille, stands the Cistercian Abbey of Bonlieu. A private property, the monastic complex does not visit but deserves the detour. Accessible from the D 4 by following the signs, it reveals itself in a green setting. It is at the écat of the village, nestled in a hollow. Lovers of medieval architecture, and more widely the curious ones, will be seduced by the ruins of the 1420 th century abbey and the fortification tower in the s by monks anxious to preserve the English destruction linked to the Hundred Years War. Cistercian since 1162, Bonlieu was proposed for sale in 1790 and acquired by a family of saddlers aubussonnais. The abbey has since passed from generation to generation.