Châalis

The remains of the Cistercian abbey of Châalis, founded in 1136, still bear witness to its former greatness. One side of the 13th C. cloister, the chapel (also 13th C., with frescoes by Primaticcio) and the abbot's lodgings are all that have survived the devastation and plundering of the centuries. A sumptuous building of 1740 houses a museum (furniture, pictures, religious sculpture, mementos of Jean-Jacques Rousseau).