Discover Aubazine and the Monks' Canal

What's the link between an abbey, a canal, Cistercian monks and Coco Chanel? Aubazine, of course, and one of our great places to visit near Brive-La-Gaillarde.

Situated on a rocky spur overlooking the River Corrèze between Brive and Tulle, Aubazine is a village with a unique and picturesque heritage dating back to the 12th century, including an abbey, an abbey church and a canal built into the cliffside by monks. Come and meet the monks - you won't regret it!

Aubazine: a hardy and responsible destination!

Explore theCistercian abbey and its flower-filled cloister featuring a fountain brought to life by 60 oxen. Absolutely gallant!
Enter the abbey church to see its 12th-century liturgical wardrobe, its "mise au tombeau", and its grisaille stained glass windows that inspired Mademoiselle Chanel, no less!
Visit the Cistercian museum in the former presbytery to find out all you need to know about the history of the twin monasteries of Obazine and Coyroux.
Walk along the monks' canal, a real work of art, offering magnificent panoramic views while respecting the surrounding nature. In short, be responsible!

Aubazine Abbey

Aubazine is an abbey like no other! In 1125, Saint Étienne d’Obazine founded a hermitage which became a Cistercian monastery with 300 monks by the 17th century. These monks lived off the produce from the various farmsteads they had built in Limousin and Quercy. The abbey was subsequently dissolved during the Revolution.

In 1860, it became an orphanage run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary. During the Second World War, young Jewish women and girls were hidden there.

Then, in 1965, nuns of the Resurrection (a Byzantine-tradition church affiliated with Rome) took over the running of the site and began offering guided tours.

Today, the Abbey is a privately-owned historic monument run as a registered charity, and tours are mainly led by volunteers. Visitors can explore the dormitory (with its impressive rammed-earth floor), the kitchen, the chapter house, the scriptorium and the fishpond, all built around a flower-filled cloister.

The monks' canal

This magnificent work of art was also built in the twelfth century by the monks and was used to turn the mills and supply water to fish ponds and monastery buildings. It draws its water upstream from the Coiroux stream and then transports it to Aubazine along the rocky side of the valley. The sometimes perilous topography of the area makes this canal a unique construction with exceptional expertise. Listed as a historic monument in 1965, it was renovated in 2010. Give in to the temptation of this 1.5 km walk. Be sure to bring good shoes!

View through the forest on the Canal des Moines d'Aubazine

Coco Chanel in Aubazine

Aubazine is where the famous Coco Chanel grew up. Gabrielle Chanel was placed in an orphanage at the age of 12 and stayed there until she was 18. It was here that the future fashion designer learned dressmaking. She later drew inspiration for her designs from the place: the black and white of the clothes worn by the nuns and the beige of the walls. The two intertwined letters "C" in her logo were inspired by the stained glass windows in the abbey church.

In 2020, during a haute couture show, Chanel paid tribute to the abbey by recreating its cloister almost identically under the glass roof of the Grand Palais in Paris. Chic then!

Close-up of a stained glass window in the Aubazine abbey church

Hiking in Aubazine

What if you left the heart of Aubazine to discover what's hidden around it? There are three walking routes to choose from:

Along the Coiroux to the Canal des Moines (9.4 km).
The monasteries trail, from Aubazine to the remains of the female monastery at Coyroux (4.3 km).
From Puy Pauliac and its orientation table to the monks' canal (9.4 km).

As a family, try your hand at geocaching with Tèrra Aventura's "Obazine, at the time of the monasteries" trail. 5km route.

Practical information

Where is Aubazine?

The village of Aubazine is situated halfway between Brive and Tulle, along the D1089. It takes about 20 minutes to get there from Brive.

Visiting Aubazine Abbey and the Monks’ Canal

Guided tours of the monument are available exclusively by booking on the Aubazine Abbey website.
Free access to the Monks’ Canal all year round. Guided walks are organised during the summer months.

Things to see around Aubazine

The Coiroux lake (a leisure complex where swimming is permitted in July and August) and the Coiroux golf course situated on the lakeside (open all year round).
The Travassac slate quarries in Donzenac, a site unique in Europe. It is the only slate quarry still in operation today and is responsible, amongst other things, for the roofing of the Mont-Saint-Michel basilica.
Swimming at Lac de Miel
The César Tower in Allassac

Tip In the footsteps of Coco Chanel

View of the abbey church and the rest of Aubazine abbey from the cloister garden

When the building goes, everything goes! This could have been the motto of the Cistercian monks, tireless builders between the 11th and 13th centuries. In Aubazine, as elsewhere, they couldn't resist indulging their guilty pleasure of building an abbey. It was in this abbey, transformed into an orphanage, that Coco Chanel lived between the ages of 12 and 18. As you contemplate the stained glass windows in the church, don't you see two intertwined C's? Yes, that's right, love. But there are other details that evoke the creations of the great designer. It's up to you to discover them as you wander around.

Abbaye d'Aubazine,
19190 Aubazine
05 55 87 39 52