Monasteries in France
Saint-Sever Abbey
Saint-Sever Abbey (abbaye de Saint-Sever) is a Benedictine monastery. It was founded at the end of the 10th century by William II Sánchez of Gascony. According to the monastic chronicles, this was as the result of a vow he made after the battle of Taller, in Gascony, in which he defeated the Vikings (982). In 1060, after a fire, the abbey was reconstructed on the model of Cluny under the direction of the abbot Gregor ...
Founded: 10th century AD |
Location:
Saint-Sever, France
St-Florent-le-Vieil Abbey
The abbey of St-Florent-le-Vieil was originally established already in the 6th century. It was a strong and wealthy abbey until attacked by Normans several times between 850-853. The abbey was left to decay over centuries until 1637 when monks restored it. It was damaged again during the French Revolution 1790-1793.
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, France
Mortemer Abbey Ruins
Mortemer Abbey was originally built in 1134 on land gifted to the Cistercians by Henry I of England. The stagnant water of the drainage lake, dug out by the monks to dry up the marshy land around the quick running Fouillebroc stream, was called 'dead mere', 'dead pond' - in modern French 'morte mare' - and gave the monastery its name. The monks constructed what was then one of the largest Ci ...
Founded: 1134 |
Location:
Lisors, France
Couvent des Jacobins
The Couvent des Jacobins was a monastery in Saint-Sever - Jacobin was the French term for the Dominican Order. Founded in 1280 thanks to the support of Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I of England, it was partly destroyed in 1569 by Huguenot troops under Gabriel, comte de Montgomery during the Wars of Religion. It was partly rebuilt thanks to the support of père Antonin Cloche, a native of the town who became ...
Founded: 1280 |
Location:
Saint-Sever, France
Jouarre Abbey
Jouarre Abbey was traditionally founded around 630 AD by the Abbess Theodochilde or Telchilde. She was inspired by the visit of St. Columban, the travelling Irish monk who inspired monastic institution-building in the early seventh century. As part of its Celtic heritage, Jouarre was established as a double community of monks as well as nuns, both under the rule of the abbess, who in 1225 was granted immunity from interfe ...
Founded: 630 AD |
Location:
Jouarre, France
St Paul Abbey
The Abbey of St Paul, Verdun is a former Premonstratensian monastery in Verdun, department of Meuse. The surviving buildings are used for civic purposes. The abbey was founded in 973 by Benedictine monks. In 1135 it passed to the Premonstratensians, then not long established. The abbey was destroyed and rebuilt several times, most recently in the 17th century. In 1790, during the French Revolution, a new church was be ...
Founded: 17th century |
Location:
Verdun, France
Escaladieu Abbey
Escaladieu Abbey was a Cistercian abbey located in the French commune of Bonnemazon. Its name derives from the Latin Scala Dei ('ladder of God'). The abbey was founded in 1142 and became an important pilgrimage stop on the Way of St. James en route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The abbey is situated at the confluence of the Luz and the Arros rivers near the Château de Mauvezin ...
Founded: 1142 |
Location:
Bonnemazon, 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
Saint-Mihiel Abbey
Saint-Mihiel Abbey is an ancient Benedictine abbey situated in the town of Saint-Mihiel, near Verdun. The benedictine abbey was built in 708 or 709 by a Count Wulfoalde and his wife Adalsinde, probably to house the relics that Wulfoalde had brought back from Italy. It was dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, a popular saint at the time, as can be testified by the establishment of the abbeys of Mont St Michel in Norm ...
Founded: 708-709 AD |
Location:
Saint-Mihiel, 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