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Notre-Dame du Vivier Abbey
through time

A Cistercian Abbey for women through centuries

For centuries, the Notre-Dame du Vivier Abbey was a place of monastic life, prayer, and work, animated by a community of Cistercian nuns. Throughout history, it has experienced the vicissitudes of wars, religious reforms, periods of prosperity and decline, until its deconsecration and partial repurposing in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Today, its buildings and furnishings still tell this unique story, a blend of sacred and secular, preservation and transformation.

The "Marche-sur-Meuse: May Time Flow and the Ladies Pass" exhibition highlights a site founded in the 13th century in the heart of majestic nature.

The abbey is presented through two other sections of the exhibition:

• archaeological discoveries on the site.
• the archives

The Abbey Archives

The second part of the Marche-sur-Meuse exhibition - "The Memory of the Ladies" - recounts the history of the abbey through its preserved archives (charters, legal proceedings, accounts, obituaries, plans, deeds, etc.). These documents reveal the daily, spiritual, legal, and economic life of a Cistercian community founded in the 13th century.

Archaeological Discoveries

This exhibition is held in the very heart of the Notre-Dame du Vivier Abbey and unveils the major discoveries of recent excavation campaigns: medieval timber frame, hydraulic network... These once hidden remains are gradually revealing the secrets of an exceptionally preserved Cistercian site.