Pairis Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Orbey

Orbey

Orbey is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...

 in Haut-Rhin

Haut-Rhin

Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...

, Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

, northeastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The surviving building serves today as a nursing home.

History

The abbey was founded in 1138 by the Count of Eguisheim.

In the 13th century, abbot Martin of Pairis preached the Fourth Crusade

Fourth Crusade

The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...

 and then participated in it. After the sacking of Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, Martin brought several relics from there to Pairis, increasing the status of the monastery considerably. The monk Gunther of Pairis

Gunther of Pairis

Gunther of Pairis was a German Cistercian monk and author, writing in Latin.His best known work is his Historia Constantinopolitana about the Fourth Crusade, in a mixture of prose and verse...

 wrote a historical account of the crusade.

The abbey was suppressed during the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

.