When Antioch was taken during the first crusade, the bishop of Puy, Adhémar de Monteil, recovered a piece of cloth which was said to have been wrapped around Christ’s head at his burial. Near to death, the bishop entrusted the cloth to his chaplain, a priest from Périgord, who became its keeper and brought it back to his own country. However its presence was only attested around the year 1214.

In 1935 the cloth was examined by experts and its authenticity was rejected.

Cadouin was a place of pilgrimage for 7 centuries which largely contributed to the development of the abbey and the village surrounding it.

The cloisters are in the form of a rectangle and its latticed arches open out onto an interior garden. The north, east and south galleries are decorated in the Flamboyant Gothic style. The west gallery, built at the beginning of the XVIth century is in the Renaissance style. The vaulting, with secondary and tertiary ribs and decorated with hanging keystones, is supported by small columns cast in the form of towers. The decorated capitals, are placed at mid-height and represent sin and scenes from daily life. The abbot’s throne, the reader’s lectern and the monks’ seats are built in the local ochre coloured stone and are remnants of the original cloisters.

The cloisters are made up of 4 galleries and 26 bays with ogee vaulting. The Romanesque church exudes a twelfth century Cistercian spirituality. The Shroud Museum, to be found in the Chapter House of the cloisters evokes eight centuries of pilgrimage and religious fervour. Also notable is the "Porte Saint Louis", a vestige from the early defensive wall, and the old covered market.

Cadouin Abbey is one of the world heritage sites on the pilgrim route to St. Jacques de Compostelle.