Religious sites in France
Meaux Cathedral
Meaux Cathedral construction began between 1175-1180, when a structure in Romanesque style was started. Defects in the original design and construction had to be corrected in the 13th century, in which the architect Gautier de Vainfroy was much involved. He had to remove the previous cathedral almost totally and start a new structure in Gothic style. In the later 13th century work was often interrupted due to lack of fund ...
Founded: 1175-1180 |
Location:
Meaux, France
Vaucelles Abbey
The abbey of Vaucelles, old Cistercian abbey founded in 1132 by Saint-Bernard, is the 13th daughter-house of Clairvaux. During the era of prosperity in the 12th and 13th centuries, the community included several hundred monks, lay brothers and novices. The 12th century claustral building is the only remains of this immense abbey, now open to the public. It included the Norman scriptorium, auditorium, chapter room (built i ...
Founded: 1132 |
Location:
Les Rues-des-Vignes, France
Abbey of Saint Aubin
Largely rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, Saint Aubin’s old monastic buildings are now local government offices. On the left of the courtyard, you will see through the bay windows the cloister’s beautiful Romanesque gallery with its finely worked sculptures.
Founded: 966 |
Location:
Angers, France
Carentan Church
Notre-Dame de Carentan was built in the 11th century. It is mentioned for the first time in 1106 at the time of the visit of Henry I of England, on Easter day. From the Romanesque period there remain only the west door, the lower part of the pillars and the four main pillars of the crossing with the Romanesque arches. During the Hundred Years" War in in 1443 the church was in ruins. Reconstruction started first wit ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Carentan, France
Silvacane Abbey
Silvacane Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in the municipality of La Roque-d"Anthéron. It was founded in or around 1144 as a daughter house of Morimond Abbey. In 1358 the abbey was plundered by the troops of the army of Aubignan, and from this time on its financial problems grew, until in 1443 the monks were obliged to abandon the abbey. The buildings became the property of the chapter of Aix Cathedral an ...
Founded: 1144 |
Location:
La Roque-d'Anthéron, France
Fécamp Abbey
Fécamp Abbey was founded in 658 by Waningus, a Merovingian count, for nuns. Another convent he founded in 660, near the site of the Precious Relic, was destroyed by the Vikings in 842. Around the Ducal palace, the foundations of two chapels have been found. After more Viking raids, Richard I of Normandy rebuilt the church. It was Richard II who invited Guillaume de Volpiano in 1001 to rekindle the life of the abbey ...
Founded: 658 AD, 1001 |
Location:
Fécamp, France
Collegiate Church of St. Aignan
One of the most frequently altered churches in the Loire Valley, St-Aignan was consecrated in 1509 in the form you see today. It possesses one of France's earliest vaulted hall crypts, complete with polychromed capitals. Scholars of pre-Romanesque art view the place with interest; its 10th- and 11th-century aesthetics are rare. Aboveground, the church's Renaissance-era choir and transept remain, but the Protestants burned ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Orléans, France
Dol Cathedral
Dol Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Samson de Dol) was formerly the seat of the Archbishop of Dol, one of the nine ancient bishoprics of Brittany. The archbishopric was suppressed during the French Revolution and abolished by the Concordat of 1801, when it was merged into the dioceses of Rennes and St. Brieuc. The building is notable for its eclectic mix of styles and idiosyncrasies, such as the incomplete north tower ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Dol-de-Bretagne, France
Agde Cathedral
Agde Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen and stands on the bank of the Hérault River. The present building was constructed in the 12th century, beginning in 1173 under the direction of bishop William II of Agde, and replaced a Carolingian church of the 9th century that stood on the foundations of a 5th-century Roman church, formerly a temple of Diana. The cathedral is remarkable for being built of black basalt from ...
Founded: 1173 |
Location:
Agde, France
St Peter's Church
St Peter"s Church is a church in Le Crotoy, a coastal town at the Bay of the Somme river. The church is remarkable for its front tower built in the 13th century and its interior. An ancient map of Le Cotoy and it fortress can be found in the church along with an altarpiece depicting the life of St. Honoré who lived in the 15th century as well as ex voto ships. The St Peter"s Church was formerly called Notre Da ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Le Crotoy, France
Church of Notre-Dame
The Church of Notre-Dame in Versailles was built at the command of Louis XIV by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the Neo-Classical style and was consecrated on 30 October 1686. The parish of Notre-Dame included the Palace of Versailles and thus registered the baptisms, marriages and burials of the French royal family. In 1791 it was declared a cathedral but converted to a Temple of Reason in 1793. After the Revolution the bisho ...
Founded: 1686 |
Location:
Versailles, France
Hautvillers Abbey
Hautvillers Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in the Hautvillers commune of the Marne department in north-eastern France. The abbey remained active between 665 and the French Revolution of 1789. It housed the relics of Saint Helena, Empress and mother of Constantine, between 841 and 1819. One of its monks, Dom Pérignon, contributed to the development of sparkling wine in the Champagne region. The abbey was founded ...
Founded: 650 AD |
Location:
Hautvillers, France
Saint-Gaudens Collegiate Church
With its cloister and Chapter House, Saint-Gaudens Collegiate Church was one of the most important religious buildings in the Comminges area. It was home to a College of Canons Ordinary, a community founded by Bishop Bertrand. The 11th century Romanesque church, built on the typical Pyrenean plan as a basilica with three naves, stands on the site of an earlier construction. It was extended in the 12th and 13th centuries ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Saint-Gaudens, France
Saint-Pol-de-Léon Cathedral
Saint-Pol-de-Léon Cathedral was formerly the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Pol-de-Léon, a bishopric established in the 6th century and abolished under the Concordat of 1801, when its territory was transferred to the Diocese of Quimper. It is dedicated to its 6th-century founder, the first bishop Saint Paul Aurelian. He was originally from Wales and he is considered to have been the first bishop of the L&eacut ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Saint-Pol-de-Léon, France
Église Saint-Bruno
Saint-Bruno Church was built in 1611-1620 in Baroque style. During the French Revolution in 1793 it was razed and sold as a national property. It was turned back to church in 1820.
Founded: 1611-1620 |
Location:
Bordeaux, France
Valbonne Abbey
Founded by monks from the Order of Chalais, the Valbonne church was built between 1199 and 1230. It features minimalist architectural lines, typical of the order which reached its peak at this moment, before its decline and disappearance in 1303. This was a small abbey, housing a maximum of 30 monks. The simple church, now a parish church, can be visited, as well as the monastery buildings, which are very well preserved ...
Founded: 1199-1230 |
Location:
Valbonne, France
Lectoure Cathedral
The former Lectoure Cathedral dominates the town and the belfry tower of 1488 can be seen at a distance as the town is approached. The repairs and modifications of the cathedral go back to the 12th century. The unadorned west front erected in the 15th century has been modified through the ages, and niches above the door have all but melted away due to the fragility of the limestone. The nave was vaulted at the end of th ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Lectoure, France
Le Havre Cathedral
Le Havre Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Havre) was previously a parish church dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, and is the oldest of the very few buildings in central Le Havre to have survived the devastation of World War II. It became a cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Le Havre in 1974, when the diocese of Le Havre was created. The belltower dates from around 1520 and the main façade is ...
Founded: 1575 |
Location:
Le Havre, France
Bazas Cathedral
Bazas Cathedral was the seat of the Bishop of Bazas until the French Revolution (after which it was not restored but was instead, by the Concordat of 1801, divided between the dioceses of Bordeaux, Agen and Aire) and its main attraction is still the cathedral dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, so named because the blood of John the Baptist was venerated here. The cathedral dominates the town and stands at the east end o ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Bazas, France
Holy Trinity Church
The first church in Cherbourg, built around 435 AD, was destroyed in Norman raids in 841. Wilhelm the Conqueror ordered to build a new one in the 11th century. That church suffered badly in the Hundred Years" War and the current Gothic church was built to its ruins between 1450-1466. The Holy Trinity Church was secularized and looted during the Revolution in 1794, but rebuilt in the 19th century. The Neo-Gothic tower was ...
Founded: 1450-1466 |
Location:
Cherbourg-Octeville, France