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Founded: 1137Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)
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The Manoir de Brion, also known as the Château de Brion, is a former Benedictine priory of the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. It was founded in 1137 by the abbot Bernard du Bec. Several kings and members of the royal court stayed at the Manoir de Brion while on pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel, including Charles VI in 1393, Louis XI in 1462 and Francis I of France in 1532. The explorer Jacques Cartier was also presented to King Francis I at the Manoir de Brion before his 1534 voyage to Canada, where one of the Magdalen Islands would be named Île Brion. During the Second World War, the building was used as a hospital to shelter wounded soldiers. The British writer Vincent Cronin resided there until his death in January 2011.
References:La Hougue Bie is a Neolithic ritual site which was in use around 3500 BC. Hougue is a Jèrriais/Norman language word meaning a \'mound\' and comes from the Old Norse word haugr. The site consists of 18.6m long passage chamber covered by a 12.2m high mound. The site was first excavated in 1925 by the Société Jersiaise. Fragments of twenty vase supports were found along with the scattered remains of at least eight individuals. Gravegoods, mostly pottery, were also present. At some time in the past, the site had evidently been entered and ransacked.
In Western Europe, it is one of the largest and best preserved passage graves and the most impressive and best preserved monument of Armorican Passage Grave group. Although they are termed \'passage graves\', they were ceremonial sites, whose function was more similar to churches or cathedrals, where burials were incidental.