Aulps Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery located at an altitude of 810 metres in the village of Saint-Jean-d'Aulps in the Aulps Valley, Haute-Savoie, French Alps. It is 7 km from Morzine, 25 km from Thonon and 60 km from Geneva. Aulps Abbey was a major Cistercian site in the Haute Savoie region for almost seven hundred years, from its foundation in the 1090s to its suppression in 1793. The church was partially destroyed in 1823, for its stones, but the superb 13th century façade remains standing. In addition to the majestic ruins of the abbey, classified as a monument historique in 1902, the three-hectare estate includes agricultural buildings, cellars, a gatehouse and a medicinal garden. History Aulph Abbey was founded at the very end of the 11th century by monks from Molesme Abbey in Burgundy, including the eventual second abbot of Aulph Guarinus of Sitten, later Saint Guarinus. Its name derives from the Latin word alpibus which means "mountain pastures". Aulph was affiliated to the Cistercian Order in 1136. After the death of Guarinus the abbey became a place of pilgrimage on account of his relics, which were held here. (In 1961, the name was changed from St Jean d'Aulph to St Jean d'Aulps, France.) The abbey's influence quickly spread throughout the Chablais, Faucigny and Jura regions. The abbots became the right-hand men of the Counts of Savoy and lords of Faucigny. Some of them later became bishops. In 1792, the French invaded the Savoy and drove out the last monks. The abbey was formally suppressed in the following year. The last buildings remained intact through this time and it was not until 1823 that the inhabitants of Saint-Jean-d'Aulph decided to reconstruct the burned-out parish church nearby and to use the abandoned monastery as a quarry for the stone. The owner of the abbey farm, Ernest Tavernier, saved the last remains by having the site listed as a "monument historique" in 1902. Between 1930 and 1940, the massive work of clearance was begun by the priest of Saint-Jean-d'Aulph, Father Alexis Coutin, who restored the grandeur of the abbey church. Architecture The church The construction of the abbey started around 1150. The work lasted about sixty years and was effectively finished when the church building was consecrated on 26 May 1212 by the Bishop of Geneva. The builders used local materials – tuff (a light-weight chalk-based rock), red limestone and