The Grammont Priory is a former priory of the Grandmont Order, founded by Richard the Lionheart in the 12th century. It is located in Chassay, within the commune of Saint-Prouant.
Among the best-preserved and most complete priories of this order in France (only missing the cloister), it is owned by the Vendée department and open to visitors.
Long thought to have been founded by Richard the Lionheart in 1194, the actual foundation date of the priory is likely slightly later. The construction of the buildings occurred around the same time, circa 1200. The architecture, remarkably well-preserved, is very consistent.
The chapel's vault was replaced by the current framework in the 17th century. In 1772, the Grandmontain order was abolished by the commission of regulars, and the buildings were converted into an agricultural enterprise until they were acquired by the municipality in 1985.
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.