Port-Royal-des-Champs

Port-Royal-des-Champs is the historic site of a Cistercian abbey and later a prominent Jansenist religious community in the Île-de-France region, noted for its 17th-century intellectual and religious associations. The original abbey complex became a centre for religious reform and a focal point in controversies that marked French ecclesiastical history.

In the 17th century Port-Royal-des-Champs attracted theologians, writers and religious reformers; its suppression and partial demolition in the early 18th century followed prolonged conflicts with royal and ecclesiastical authorities. Today the site preserves archaeological remains, restored buildings and a museum that interprets its religious, cultural and intellectual legacy.

Conservation and presentation focus on the abbey’s physical remains, landscaped grounds and exhibitions explaining the site’s historical significance and the lives of its monastic inhabitants.

The site is located in the Chevreuse Valley area, southwest of central Paris, within the Yvelines department and reachable by regional transport from the Paris metropolitan area.

• Museum on site: A small museum and interpretive displays explain the abbey's role in 17th-century religious and intellectual history and the Jansenist movement.