For setting up the abbeys, St Bernard of Clairvaux advocated sites favorable to both meditation and human occupation. If the presence of water is fundamental, we can see that the necessity of the spot´s remoteness and fullness often prevailed over architectural obligations. The church of Senanque, constricted by the canyon of Senancole, is not oriented towards the East, as tradition and St-Bernard´s plan would have it, but to the North, while the slope of the valley of Le Thoronet or the reed forest of Silvacane drove the architect to lay the site out in tiers so as to manage the slope while keeping the coherence of the whole and the vertical symbolism of the buildings. Harmony and simplicity led the monks to choose for their buildings the rocks on which they sat.

Thus arose living, colored walls, whose different strata reveal the geology of the spot : tufa gray, yellow marl, pink bauxite... Stripped of all pomp, Cistercian harmony rests on no more than the purity of the lines, the light and song. Instead of the symbolism of the icon, it prefers that of number and form : gothic arches to support the load and giving the whole a thrust towards the sky, the chapter house lower down to show the temporality of the word pronounced there, accessed by three steps, lit by three openings signifying that each of those words are pronounced before the Holy Trinity. Only the chapter rooms are adorned with representational symbols. Rare and limited to these rooms only, they symbolize the abbot´s authority there or the abbey´s affiliation ( such as leaves inspired by the symbol of Cîteaux). In Sénanque, an audacious architect placed across from the abbot´s seat, at the entrance to the chapter house, the effigy of a cannibalistic monster symbolizing at the same time the devil and the rebirth of the body devoured by the earth at the moment of death.

In the heart of the abbey, no stained glass window disturbs the light. The wall over the sanctuary is set with one simple opening, of which the radiance establishes an almost supernatural bond between monk and God. The windows are made of interlacing pieces of white or gray glass set with lead. The Cistercians also gave a particular importance to the acoustics of their churches, which distinguishes itself by an echo of an average of ten seconds.

In Thoronet, where the echo lasts fourteen seconds, the guides don´t hesitate to sing out some Cistercian-like chants to prove these extraordinary acoustics, that you can hear, as well, during the concerts organized every year be the abbey. The commentary knows not to overwhelm the visitor with architectural knowledge, rather letting him or her soak up the magic of the place.