The location of the town and abbey of Cluny in the middle valley of the Grosne river, between the Mâconnais mountains and the Charolais plateau, was not chosen because of a particular geographical advantage. The site was attractive for the impression of calm, tranquility, and solitude that emanated from its landscape of forests and meadows and from the double circus of hills that completely closed off the horizon. Upon its founding in 910, the site appeared ideal for monastic life due to its remoteness from commercial and military routes and its incentive to pray. The abbey estate was built at the bottom of a valley on the banks of the Grosne, whose waters protected the abbey and animated its mills and tanneries.