Castagniers Abbey (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Paix de Castagniers)Abbey of Our Lady of Peace is a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

nery, in Castagniers, 12 km from

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

in the

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

'' departement'' in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1865, Dom Marie-Bernard Barnouin, restorer of

Sénanque Abbey Sénanque Abbey (Occitan: ''abadiá de Senhanca'', French: ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque'') is a Cistercian abbey near the village of Gordes in the ''département'' of the Vaucluse in Provence, France. First foundation It was founded in 114 ...

, founded a Cistercian community for women in Mane in the

diocese of Digne The Diocese of Digne (Latin: ''Dioecesis Diniensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Digne'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected in the 4th century as the Diocese of Digne, the diocese has been ...

, and in 1869, another in

Reillanne Reillanne (; oc, Ralhana) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It is due north of Toulon and west of Nice. History The earliest record of a city on this site is the Roman town of Alaunia in 909. That ...

, the ''Abbaye de Notre-Dame des Prés''. In 1872 the two communities were united in Reillanne. In 1930 the community left Reillanne to settle in Castagniers. The community was elevated to the rank of an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in 1962. The first abbess, Mother Marguerite de la Trinité, saw to it that the place became a

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

factory, which is still working today. The nuns have a guest house and they welcome guests wishing to make a retreat. Image:Statue de Notre-Dame de la Paix, Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Paix de Castagniers (12-05-2008).jpg, Our Lady of Peace (''Notre Dame de la Paix'') Image:The_monastery.jpg, The Abbey File:Clocher, Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Paix de Castagniers (03-08-2008).jpg, The bell tower

Notes

Cistercian nunneries in France Buildings and structures in Alpes-Maritimes 19th-century Christian monasteries 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France {{France-Christian-monastery-stub