When Louis IX ordered the construction of Royaumont Abbey, the site was chosen because of its proximity to his royal castle at Asnières-sur-Oise. Cistercian monks lived in complete autarky and advocated a life of solitude and poverty. Originally, the abbey estate covered 20 hectares, which were enclosed by a wall. The buildings were built on a wide plain where two rivers, the Thève and the Ysieux, met. The estate was divided into three parts: the agricultural area and the gardens cultivated by the lay brothers, the monastic centre reserved for professed monks, and the abbey church.