© PWilliamson
© PWilliamson
Les Cordeliers Cloister, Saint Emilion
14th-century cloisters & home to a sparkling white wine
The monks originally lived just outside Saint-Emilion, but in 1338 they obtained permission from the Pope to establish a monastery within the walls. The cloister was built in the 14th-century.
For four centuries until the onset of the Revolution in 1789 the Cordeliers (the monks) occupied this site with their church, an entrance courtyard, a winery, a vat room, a cellar, a garden and a dormitory building with six bedrooms. In the late 19th-century the new owners decided to convert the extensive underground spaces into wineries and bottle cellars.
Now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and French Historical Monument, the Cordeliers cloister is a perfectly preserved example of late Romanesque architecture.
