St-André-le-Bas Church, Vienne, France

The abbey of Saint-Andre-le-Bas was founded in the 8th century by Duke Ansemund. The church was originally a chapel of the palace of kings of Burgundy built in the end of the 9th century. The abbey flourished in the High Middle Ages.

The troubles of the Hundred Years' War and the competition of the new religious orders reduced the power of the convent and it was unable to recover from the Wars of religion. The monastery was dissolved in the late 18th century. The abbey church, built in the 11th century, became a parish church and the convent buildings were sold and partly dismembered. The church, the bell tower and the cloister are still remarkable for their harmonious Romanesque sculpted ornementation.

User Reviews

nath malin (17 months ago)
Musée intéressant pour la découverte de la ville !!

Loud 06 (17 months ago)
Petit musée, petit prix, petit Cloître...

Jean-Louis Gustin (2 years ago)
We visited the Cloister Saint André le Bas de Vienne which is part of the sites of the group visit of the monuments of the city. It is a very beautiful Roman cloister built in the 12th century, perfectly restored. As the presentation document that will be given to you very well says, the Romanesque architecture and sculpted decoration testify both to the survival of the ancient models for the Corinthian capitals of the gallery, and to the medieval imagery of the fantastic bestiary for the capitals presented under the gallery on columns placed along the south wall. The cloister garden is now planted with simple and medicinal plants, as it should be. It is absolutely perfect. In the neighboring chapter hall, there is an exhibition on the use of water from the river, which manages it, which joins the Rhône close to the Cloister.

Edouard Capdexai (3 years ago)
Superb small, but original, exhibitions with varied themes. Saving means and surprising result. To be continued !

Dylan Rey (3 years ago)
Really nice place to go!

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Les Invalides is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building"s original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l"Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d"Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France"s war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte.

Louis XIV initiated the project in 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers: the name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides. The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant. The enlarged project was completed in 1676, the river front measured 196 metres and the complex had fifteen courtyards. Jules Hardouin Mansart assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruant"s designs after the elder architect"s death.

Shortly after the veterans" chapel was completed, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel referred to as the Église du Dôme from its most striking feature. Inspired by St. Peter"s Basilica in Rome, the original for all Baroque domes, it is one of the triumphs of French Baroque architecture. The domed chapel is centrally placed to dominate the court of honour. It was finished in 1708.

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The building retained its primary function of a retirement home and hospital for military veterans until the early twentieth century. In 1872 the musée d"artillerie (Artillery Museum) was located within the building to be joined by the Historical Museum of the Armies in 1896. The two institutions were merged to form the present musée de l"armée in 1905. At the same time the veterans in residence were dispersed to smaller centres outside Paris. The reason was that the adoption of a mainly conscript army, after 1872, meant a substantial reduction in the numbers of veterans having the twenty or more years of military service formerly required to enter the Hôpital des Invalides. The building accordingly became too large for its original purpose. The modern complex does however still include the facilities detailed below for about a hundred elderly or incapacitated former soldiers.

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