Monasteries in France
Lessay Abbey
It is not exactly known when the Abbaye de Sainte-Trinité in Lessay was established; other historians date it to 1056, Cologne University to 1105. The vaults of the church, built around 1100 are however probably the oldest in Normandy. The abbey flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries, but during the Hundred Years' War in 1356 it was burned and looted. The nave and tower were badly damaged and restored in 1385. Lessay ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Lessay, France
La Chartreuse de Neuville
The Chartreuse Notre-Dame des Prés was a Carthusian monastery (Charterhouse) in northern France, at Neuville-sous-Montreuil. The charter of foundation is dated from the chateau d"Hardelot on 15 July 1324; the church was consecrated in 1338. The foundation, being close to Calais, was liable to disturbance in time of war. Thus it was often sacked by the English during the wars of the fourteenth and fifteenth cent ...
Founded: 1324 |
Location:
Neuville-sous-Montreuil, France
Bon-Repos Abbey
The Bon-Repos Abbey was founded by Viscount Alain III de Rohan in c. 1184. According to legend, he was asked to build it by the Virgin Mary; she appeared to him in a dream when he fell asleep on this spot after a hard day’s hunting in the Quénécan Forest. After a tumultuous history, which included being burnt down by the Chouans (Royalists) in 1795, the abbey fell into ruin until it was rescued in 1986 ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Saint-Gelven, France
Abbaye Blanche
The Abbaye Blanche ('White Abbey'), was a nunnery founded in 1112 in Mortain. Shortly after establishing an abbey for men called Holy Trinity of Savigny, Saint Vitalis, founder of the monastic order of Savigny, set up the Abbaye Blanche for women. The church is built on a Latin cross floorplan of a central nave and a wide transept. The style is Early Gothic, though unfortunately only the chapter house, cellar an ...
Founded: 1112 |
Location:
Mortain, France
Abbey of Saint-Savin-en-Lavedan
The Abbey of Saint-Savin-en-Lavedan was a Benedictine abbey in the commune of Saint-Savin and one of the most important religious centres in the County of Bigorre. The abbey dates at least from the 10th century, and it was built by order of Charlemagne on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman fortress. In 841, the abbey was looted and burnt by the Normans, and previously by the Saracens. In 945, Count Raymond I ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Saint-Savin, France
Saint-Michel de Grandmont Priory
Saint-Michel de Grandmont Priory was built in the 12th century and is one of the best-preserved of the 160 Grandmontine monasteries. It is a religious order, founded by Étienne of Thiers, son of Viscount of Thiers from the Auvergne. It was known to be one of the strictest, and austere orders of the Middle Ages. There was no hierarchy, with no archives, and no heating. The monks walked with bare feet, in perpetual silenc ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Saint-Privat, France
Bonport Abbey
The abbey of our Lady of Bonport was founded in 1189 by Richard the Lionheart, King of England and Duke of Normandy. According to legend, the King was in peril on the river Seine and made a vow that if he arrived safely (in French à Bonport) on the other bank of the river, he would found a monastery on that side. The abbey was built shortly afterwards with the help of local lords and was damaged and restored severa ...
Founded: 1189 |
Location:
Pont-de-l'Arche, France
Cassan Abbey
The Augustinian priory here was founded in 1080, on land donated by the Alquier noble family of Béziers. A new church was consecrated in 1115. Numerous relics were collected by the abbey and it served as cemetery to the nobility of the region. The lands owned by the priory extended to 75 villages. Pope Innocent III in the context of the crusade against the Cathars exempted the priory from control by the bishops of Béz ...
Founded: 18th century |
Location:
Roujan, France
Bonneval Abbey
Bonneval Abbey was founded as a monastery of Cistercian monks in Le Cayrol. Bonneval Abbey was founded in 1147 by Cistercian monks from Mazan Abbey, in Rouergue. Its name means 'good valley', a typical Cistercian name. Bonneval quickly became a rich and powerful abbey, owning extensive estates throughout the country. In the mid-14th century it suffered from the Black Death and underwent much damage and loss ...
Founded: 1147 |
Location:
Le Cayrol, France
Montivilliers Abbey
The Abbey Church of Notre-Dame, sometimes referred to as 'Montivilliers Abbey' dates back to 684, although it was destroyed a Viking raid in 850, and rebuilt as a church in both the Romanesque and Gothic styles. It fell into decline by the late 1700's. Its decline went up to the French revolution at the end of the 18th century when it was closed and sold. Fortunately the abbey was not destroyed and was later bought back b ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Montivilliers, France
Lonlay Abbey
Founded in c. 1020 by Guillaume de Bellême known as 'Talvas', Lonlay Abbey was originally occupied by the monks of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire. Interpolated between the Gothic choir and porch, there are no more remains of the Romanesque edifice than the transept whose lower and middle sections show some signs of fishbone bonding, and date back to the end of the 11th century or beginning of the 12th centur ...
Founded: c. 1020 |
Location:
Lonlay-l'Abbaye, France
Blasimon Abbey
Blasimon Benedictine abbey was founded in the 10th century. The 12th century church is still standing, restored in the 15th and 16th century. In the past, monks dug ditches fill with river Gamage"s water, surrounding the abbey. These ditches transformed the abbey to a stronghold. Unfortunately, the French Revolution damaged the abbey and today it is ruined.
Founded: 10th century AD |
Location:
Blasimon, France
Arthous Abbey
Arthous Abbey (formerly known as the Abbey of St. Mary of Arthous) was founded in 1167 in a deserted area bordering the Basque Country. The abbey belongs to the Order of Premonsterians. The abbey was badly damaged due to religious wars in the 16th century. In particular, the Huguenots burned the choir of the church and canonical buildings in 1571, and the archives were eradicated. The abbey church was built in a late ...
Founded: 1167 |
Location:
Hastingues, France
Pontlevoy Abbey
The Benedictian Abbey of Pontlevoy (Abbaye de Pontlevoy) was established in 1034. It made the town an important commercial and cultural center. A local knight named Gelduin de Chaumont founded to fulfill a vow. It is believed that Gelduin's boat was caught in a storm on the way back from a Crusade in the Holy Land. He prayed to the Virgin for help, promising to build Her a church in Pontlevoy, which he held as a vassal of ...
Founded: 1034 |
Location:
Pontlevoy, France
Saorge Monastery
Saorge was a stronghold of strategic significance defending the road between Nice and Turin via the Col de Tende mountain pass. Recollect Franciscan monks founded a monastery there in 1633, at the time of the Catholic Reformation. Today it overlooks the village and waterfalls of La Roya at the gateway to Mercantour. The cloister and the refectory contain examples of exceptional painted decoration dating from the 17th and ...
Founded: 1633 |
Location:
Saorge, France
Lucq de Béarn Abbey
The town of Lucq-de-Béarn developed in the tenth century around the Abbey of Saint Vincent, founded around 970 AD. It has a great reputation at the end of the thirteenth century by hosting several times the King of England Edward I and part of his court came to settle a conflict between the kings of France and Aragon. This charming little medieval village has also suffered religious wars which it will be very difficult t ...
Founded: c. 970 AD |
Location:
Lucq-de-Béarn, France
Fontcaude Abbey
The Abbaye de Fontcaude is a 12th century abbey in Cazedarnes, 20 km from Beziers. Ruined after the Revolution, the abbay has been an amazing restoration. It now offers its looks roman abbey, cloister, oil mill, museum of Gothic sculptures and a bell foundry from 12th century.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Cazedarnes, France
Corbie Abbey
Corbie Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Corbie, Picardy, dedicated to Saint Peter. It was founded by Balthild, the widow of Clovis II, who had monks sent from Luxeuil. The Abbey of Corbie became celebrated both for its library and the scriptorium. The abbey was founded in about 657/661 under Merovingian royal patronage by Balthild, widow of Clovis II, and her son Clotaire III. The first monks came from Luxeuil ...
Founded: 657 AD |
Location:
Corbie, France
Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives Abbey
The Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre-sur-Diveswas was rebuilt in the 12th century and 13th centuries and restored and modified in the 16th and 17th centuries, replacing the former abbey church built in 1011 by William the Conqueror"s aunt, Countess Lesceline. The church was entirely restored in the 16th century. By that time it got its general current appearance: a long main nave with two aisles and five radiating chapel ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, France
La Lucerne Abbey
La Lucerne Abbey (Abbaye Sainte-Trinité de La Lucerne) was founded in 1143 by Hasculf de Subligny, son of Othoerne, the tutor of William Adelin, both of whom perished in the White Ship disaster of 1120, and later had the support of the English crown. The new monastery was settled from Dommartin Abbey near Hesdin. The foundation stone of the permanent buildings was laid in 1164 by Achard of St. Victor, who was later ...
Founded: 1143 |
Location:
La Lucerne-d'Outremer, France