Abbey Museum · Magny-les-Hameaux · Chevreuse Valley
Musée de Port-Royal-des-Champs & the Paris Museum Pass
The abbey that challenged Louis XIV — ruins, Philippe de Champaigne paintings, and 35 hectares of Cistercian gardens in the Chevreuse valley south of Paris.
Last updated: February 2026 · Prices and details verified
Is the Musée National de Port-Royal des Champs included in the Paris Museum Pass?
Yes — the Paris Museum Pass covers full entry to the Musée de Port-Royal-des-Champs, saving you €8 per person. No reservation required. Note: the museum is not easily accessible by public transport — a car is strongly recommended. The abbey ruins are open on Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays only.
Musée National de Port-Royal des Champs — Fast Facts
Address
Route des Granges, 78114 Magny-les-Hameaux
Nearest Metro
Car recommended · Or RER B to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse then Bus 464 (Buloyer stop) (RER B (limited) or car)
Bus
Bus 464 from Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (RER B)
Opening hours
Museum (Granges): Wednesday–Monday · April–October: 10:30am–12:30pm and 2pm–6pm · November–March: 10am–12pm and 2pm–5:30pm · Abbey ruins: Saturday, Sunday, public holidays · Closed Tuesday, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December
Closed
Tuesdays · 1 January, 1 May, 25 December · Abbey ruins: weekends and public holidays only
Individual ticket
€8 (2026)
With Museum Pass
Free — included
What to Know Before You Visit
Port-Royal-des-Champs was a Cistercian convent founded in 1204 in the Chevreuse valley southwest of Versailles. In the 17th century it became the intellectual centre of Jansenism — the austere Catholic reform movement that challenged both the Jesuits and the French crown. The abbey’s connections with Pascal, Racine (who received his early education here), and the philosopher-writers known as the Solitaires made it one of the most significant cultural sites in 17th-century France. In 1710, Louis XIV ordered it demolished and the community dispersed. The ruins remain, and a 17th-century farm building — the Petites Écoles — houses the national museum.
No reservation required. No reservation required. Closed Tuesdays. The museum (Granges site) is open Wednesday to Monday. The abbey ruins are accessible on Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays only (afternoons). A car is strongly recommended — public transport connections are very limited. By public transport: RER B to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, then Bus 464 to the Buloyer stop.
Note: The 35-hectare estate includes a reconstructed Cistercian herb garden, a working apiary, an ancient orchard of heritage fruit varieties, and Pascal’s Well — a mechanism designed according to calculations by Blaise Pascal for drawing water from 60 metres depth, reconstructed in the courtyard. The museum holds paintings by Philippe de Champaigne (one of the leading painters of 17th-century France) and his nephew Jean-Baptiste, along with portraits by Hyacinthe Rigaud and works by Jean Restout. The estate is at its most atmospheric in autumn.
Collection Highlights
A deeply French site — abbey ruins, 17th-century paintings, and the memory of a battle between faith and royal power.
Highlight 1
The Champaigne paintings
works by Philippe de Champaigne, official painter to Louis XIII and the Jansenist community’s most important artistic patron, including his portraits of the abbesses and his devotional compositions painted during his association with Port-Royal
Highlight 2
The abbey ruins
all that remains after Louis XIV ordered the complete demolition of the buildings in 1710, leaving stone foundations and fragments of walls that inspired 18th-century Romantic painters including Hubert Robert
Highlight 3
The reconstructed estate
the herb garden, orchard, apiary, and Pascal’s Well in the courtyard, preserving the agricultural and intellectual traditions of the Cistercian community that Louis XIV sought to erase
Visitor tip: Visit on a weekend when both the museum and the abbey ruins are accessible. The ruins are only open Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays (afternoon). Allow 2 hours for the full estate. The Chevreuse valley surrounding the estate is excellent walking country — the GR1 long-distance footpath passes nearby.
Getting There
A car is recommended. By car: A13 westbound then N10 southbound towards Chevreuse — approximately 45 minutes from Paris. By public transport: RER B to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (about 45 minutes), then Bus 464 to the Buloyer stop — buses are very infrequent, so check timetables carefully before travelling. The abbey ruins site is 500 metres from the museum entrance on foot.
Ready to Visit Musée National de Port-Royal des Champs?
€8 entry included with the Museum Pass. Plus 50+ more venues across Paris.
Jansenism was a reform movement within Catholicism that emphasised human sinfulness and divine grace in ways the Church found dangerously close to Protestantism. Port-Royal became its intellectual centre, attracting figures like Blaise Pascal (who wrote his Provincial Letters here) and forming the Petites Écoles where Racine was educated. Louis XIV, who regarded Jansenism as politically and religiously subversive, spent decades persecuting the community before finally ordering the demolition of all buildings in 1710 and the desecration of the cemetery. It was an act of extraordinary royal violence against a community of nuns.
With difficulty. From Paris, take RER B to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (about 45 minutes from central Paris), then Bus 464 to the Buloyer stop — but the bus service is infrequent, with very few departures per day. Check current timetables carefully before relying on this route. A car from Paris takes about 45 minutes via the A13 motorway.
The ruins are evocative rather than spectacular — foundations, partial walls, and fragments of the original buildings set in the valley landscape. They were considered romantically beautiful as early as the 18th century and inspired Hubert Robert and other landscape painters. The 35-hectare estate is the real attraction, with the museum, herb garden, orchard, and the melancholy sense of a community deliberately erased.
