Monastery Notre-Dame de l’Unité at Pugny-Chatenod

Posted in Diocese of Chambéry, Ecclesiastical province of Lyon, Nuns of Bethlehem

Monastery Notre-Dame de l’Unité

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The History of our Monastery

The Revard mountain range, which stretches from Chambéry to Aix-les-Bains, is like a natural border to the Bauges National Park in Savoie. At the foot of the mountain range, less than 700 metres above sea level, not far from the village of Pugny-Chatenod – ‘a handful of chestnut trees’ – lies the Monastery Notre-Dame de l’Unité. The small Byzantine chapel, built a century ago above Lac du Bourget, was designed by Father Fernand Portal, an early pioneer of ecumenism. He is buried in the crypt of the Chapelle Notre-Dame de l’Unité.
The main house – a former hotel for spa guests, then an orphanage – became a monastery in 1971. Over the years, hermitages of solitude have been built.

The monastery today

In this open and smiling setting, marked by this ecumenical imprint, the community of around thirty nuns has been carrying out its mission of praying for the unity of the Christian Churches for fifty years.
This historic site is also visited by many pilgrims who appreciate the beauty of the site and the beautiful mountain walks around the Monastery Notre-Dame de l’Unité.