# Interior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, French]() - Date: 1151-1200 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The abbey church of the Cistercian monastery of Pontigny is the only surviving one of the five mother abbeys that was once the centre of the Cistercian order active throughout the whole of Europe. All the others \(Citeaux, Claivaux, Morimond, and La Ferté\) were victims of the French Revolution and its aftermath. It displays unusual luxury for a church of the Cistercian order, in which excessive expenditure on architecture was prohibited. The high number of chapels, necessary because of Cistercian practice, meant that the church has more chapels than any cathedral of the day. The photo shows the ambulatory. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Bird's eye view]() - [Burial lantern]() - [Castle]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()