Aulps Abbey

Aulps Abbey was a major Cistercian site in the Haute Savoie region for almost seven hundred years, from its foundation in the 1090s to its suppression in 1793.

In addition to the majestic ruins of the abbey, classified as a monument historique in 1902,[1] the three-hectare estate includes agricultural buildings, cellars, a gatehouse and a medicinal garden.

The last buildings remained intact through this time and it was not until 1823 that the inhabitants of Saint-Jean-d'Aulph decided to reconstruct the burned-out parish church nearby and to use the abandoned monastery as a quarry for the stone.

The owner of the abbey farm, Ernest Tavernier, saved the last remains by having the site listed as a "monument historique" in 1902.

Between 1930 and 1940, the massive work of clearance was begun by the priest of Saint-Jean-d'Aulph, Father Alexis Coutin, who restored the grandeur of the abbey church.

The work lasted about sixty years and was effectively finished when the church building was consecrated on 26 May 1212 by the Bishop of Geneva.

The builders used local materials – tuff (a light-weight chalk-based rock), red limestone and river stones – and followed the restrained Cistercian floor-plan prescribed by Saint Bernard.

The third level is entirely occupied by a rose window centred under a vast load-bearing arch, supported by corniced columns.

Inside, the nave and the side aisles were roofed with ribbed vaults, as at other Cistercian churches, such as those of the abbeys of Hauterive, Acey, Noirlac and Casamari.

The false triforia built into the thickness of the internal walls are especially noteworthy: the successive niches create an architectural illusion of non-existent circulation corridors above, which reinforces the grandeur of the building.

As elsewhere, this building consisted of a square courtyard surrounded by four covered galleries, off which opened the various usual rooms: chapter house, refectory, lavatorium and so on.