L'Étanche Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery founded in the 12th century, the ruins of which are near the modern village of Deuxnouds-aux-Bois, in the commune of Lamorville.
The abbey of Notre-Dame de l'Étanche was founded in about 1144 by Philippe, abbot of Belval, in a secluded valley then known as Faverolles, near Deuxnouds-aux-Bois. The first patrons of the foundation were Albéron de Chiny, bishop of Verdun, and Bertrand le Loup and his nephew Albert, seigneurs of Faverolles, in whose lands the community was settled. The abbey church was consecrated in 1147. The earliest existing charter dates from 1157.
Nearby there was at first a Premonstratensian convent, which was dissolved in time. The modest abbey possessed a priory at Benoîte-Vaux, a famed place of pilgrimage in Lorraine.
The structures were utterly destroyed by the Swedes in 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, and were not rebuilt until 1743, with nine monastic cells in a range. The chapel was completed in 1770. Three abbés of L'Étanche were of note: Dom Dominique Callot, a student of chemistry and heraldry; Dom Edmont Maclot, author of pious works; and Dom Jean François Joseph Boucart, who assembled a collection of medals and a prestigious library, since dispersed.
References:The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built in 161 AD by the Athenian magnate Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It lasted intact until it was destroyed and left in ruins by the Heruli in 267 AD.
The audience stands and the orchestra (stage) were restored using Pentelic marble in the 1950s. Since then it has been the main venue of the Athens Festival, which runs from May through October each year, featuring a variety of acclaimed Greek as well as International performances.