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Origin and history

Our-Dame-et-Saint-Edme de Pontigny, located in the department of Yonne in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, is a former Cistercian abbey church founded in the 12th century. After the French Revolution, it became the parish church of the village and was erected as a cathedral of the territorial prelature of the Mission of France in 1954. The building preserves remarkable elements such as the tomb of Saint Edme (XVI century), its 18th and 19th century dais, as well as the reliquary of his arm. There is also the funeral plaque of Edme Robinet and the tomb ofHugues de Mâcon, the first abbot of Pontigny and bishop of Auxerre.

The architecture of the abbey includes a 17th century stone stand. Ranked a historic monument in 1840, and confirmed in 1942, it now belongs to the commune of Pontigny. Its history is closely linked to the Cistercian order, of which it was one of the most influential monasteries in the Middle Ages. The Abbey thus illustrates the spiritual and artistic influence of medieval Burgundy, while sheltering major funeral and liturgical testimonies.

The location of Pontigny, north of Burgundy, made it a place of passage and pilgrimage, reinforced by the presence of the relics of Saint Edme. After the Revolution, the transformation of the abbey into a parish church and then a cathedral reflects the religious and institutional changes of modern France. Today, the monument attracts as much for its architectural heritage as for its current role in the Mission de France.

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