Our Blog - Normandy 2023 - Abbey of Saint-Georges-de-Boscherville, France

The Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey was built on a sacred site whose origins date back to the Gallo-Roman era when a simple funeral chapel was here. In the course of the 7th century, Christian buildings and a pagan temple also appeared. These were gradually transformed, ending in the establishment of the Abbey of Saint-Georges de Boscherville in the 12th century. During the wars of religion, most of the abbey was destroyed including the dormitories and cloister.

Initially in the French (medieval) style, the garden of the abbey was rebuilt 20 years ago to adapt to more modern styles. There are a few different gardens, including this very French-style one in what used to be the cloister. There are also garden plots for vegetables, aromatic herbs (used for medicinal purposes), fruit trees, and grape vines.

The chapter house was built in 1157 with a very Romanesque entrance with carved statues on several of the columns. There was a really nice capital (well, in fact a copy of one) from the former cloister, showing 11 musicians and their instruments (harp, bells, flute, lyre, etc).

A few pictures of the Abbey Church, which is almost totally Norman Romanesque architecture ... the only thing that breaks the style are the 2 Gothic turrets on the façade.

The church is in the shape of a Latin cross with a long nave and side aisles and is very "clean" and unadorned.

One of the exceptions to the "unadorned" statement is this chapel, where you can still see some of the color from the original decorations. It may be difficult to see but the close-up is actually a little angel/cherub.

I thought the capitals were interesting, and each capital had a descriptive plaque that explained what was on it, like this one that is Jesus and 2 monks. Jesus is shown in the middle on a donkey, holding a vine in his right had when then goes around the capital.

And the baptismal font.