Our Blog - Loire Valley Trip - Royal Abbey of Notre-Dame de Fontevraud, France

The Royal Abbey of Notre-Dame de Fontevraud is a former Benedictine -inspired abbey. The 13-hectare site is one of the largest monastic cities in Europe. It was established in 1101 and there were 4 different parts: the monastery of Saint-Jean-de-l'Habit for women, the monastery of Grand-Moûtier for men, the Madeleine monastery for repentant sinners, and the Saint-Lazare convent for lepers. After the French Revolution, it was transformed into a prison and changes were made to the buildings.

The construction of the church began shortly after the foundation of the order in 1101. A first church was sketched out and the construction of the apse began. But the project quickly aborted due to an influx of the faithful and the plans were transformed to that of the current church. The choir and transept, which were the first sections built, are quite simple, while the nave is highly ornamented with domes, which were added starting around 1115.

In the middle of the nave is the necropolis of the first Plantegenet kings. Henri II and his wife, Eleanor, visited here in 1154 and when he died in 1189, he hadn't made any plans for where to be buried and, therefore, his body came here. When his son, Richard the Lionhearted, died in 1199 and his mother Eleanor decided to have him buried next to his father. A little note here ... his heart is in the Notre-Dame de Rouen cathedral, not here. Also here are Eleanor (who died in 1204) and Isabelle of Angoulême, who was the mother of King Henri III. Supposedly, one of Henri II's daughters, and Raymond the Count of Toulouse (Henri II's grandson) was also buried here but I didn't see a recumbent statue in the middle of the nave.

Next, a few random pictures of some very colorful decorations, which were surprising finds with the very bland walls entering the nave and walking up towards the transept.

Here we have the ambulatory choir, which has a very different architectural design. There are a dozen columns with slightly pointed arches that hold up a very high ceiling.

And one last picture of the church, this one coming from outside and behind. You can see the round chapels of the ambulatory choir and the bell tower.

The cloister formed the center of the Grand-Moûtier monastery and contained the main parts of monastic life: the abbey church, the chapter house, the refectory, the kitchens, and the dormitories. The first cloister was built at the beginning of the 12th century and was rebuilt in the 16th century. You can tell the difference between the older South wing and the other sides due to the difference in architecture. The south wing has heavy buttresses while the other wings are more elegant.

The chapter house is the room where the religious community meets daily. In the morning, there is discussion of the news of the abbey: admission to the novitiate, election, reception of personality, reading of the announcements or proclamations of the bishop or the pope. In the evening, a chapter of the rule is read there as well as edifying texts. It is the most important place for the organization of monastic life. The current chapter house of Fontevraud was erected under the abbacy of Louise de Bourbon around 1541. It consists of a six-bay ribbed vault falling on bases as well as on two columns. It opens with a richly decorated portal as well as two twin bays on either side of it. You can see reminders of Louise de Bourbon everywhere, including initials in the floor tiles and carved on the walls. Over the entry door, you can also see the salamanders that represent King Francois I.

The paintings in the room were made by Thomas Pot around 1565. They depict the Passion of Christ up to the Assumption of the Virgin. This one is entitled The Kiss of Judas. In each of the scenes, the artist included various Abbesses, including Louise de Bourbon, and then others were added to various scenes as new heads came in.

The Refectory was rebuilt by in the late 1400's but was heavily renovated when the abbey was turned into a prison. The area in the 2nd picture, at the end of the large, rectangular room, was added so that guards could keep watch on the prisoners who were in the room.

This interesting building was the kitchen. It is at the southwest corner of the cloister and was built between 1160 and 1170. It contained 8 semi-circular parts around the outside, five of which remain, each with a chimney at the top, plus additional chimneys around the interior.