Cîteaux Abbey is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance . The Cistercian order takes its name from this mother house of Cîteaux, earlier Cisteaux, near Nuits-Saint-Georges.The abbey has about 35 members. The monks produce the well reputed Cîteaux cheese, besides honey sweets and caramels.HistoryCîteaux Abbey was founded in 1098 by a group of monks from Molesme Abbey, seeking to follow more closely the Rule of St. Benedict, under the leadership of Saint Robert of Molesme, who became the first abbot. The site was at the time a deserted swamp, which the monks worked to cultivate. The toponym predates the abbey, but its origin is uncertain. Various suggestions have been made, including a derivation from cis tertium , "this side of the third " of the Roman road connecting Langres and Chalons sur Saône, or alternatively from cisternae "cisterns", which in Middle Latin could refer to stagnant pools of a swamp.The second abbot was Saint Alberic, and the third abbot Saint Stephen Harding, who wrote the Carta Caritatis, that described the organisation of the order. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a monk of Cîteaux Abbey, left it to found Clairvaux Abbey in 1115, of which he was the first abbot. His influence in the Cistercian order and beyond is of prime importance. He reaffirmed the importance of strict observance to the Rule of St. Benedict.