Abbaye de Cluny

Cluny is famous for its Benedictine abbey,the Abbaye de Cluny. The monastic order was originally founded in 910 and later became the largest Christian structure in the world until it was surpassed in the 16th century by Rome's St. Peter's Basilica. Its abbots were considered as powerful and influencial as the kings or the pope for the role they played in the ecclesiastical reform movement that reached over 2000 monastaries throughout Western Europe. The present abbaye was built in 1089, and although much of it was destroyed during the French Revolution, its ruins embrace the narrow streets of town and stand proud on the horizon.