Our Blog - Loop Trip - Flaran Abbey near Valence-sur-Baïse, France

Last time in the Gers, we stopped by this abbey but dogs were not allowed, so we looked at the outside and left. This time, we planned to have Lucy stay in our B&B one afternoon so that we could visit the abbey. While it is one of the best preserved abbeys in the region, with all of the monastic buildings and garden still there, nothing really remains on the interior and now mostly houses art exhibits.

It is a former Cistercian abbey, so even when it was a working abbey, the decoration would have been minimalistic since that was common with the Cistercian order. It was founded in 1151 and then remodeled several times until the 18th century. There was damage during the Hundred Years' War in 1426 and then in 1569 when part of the church was burned during the Wars of Religion. After the Revolution, it was sold and became a private farming estate, with the chapter house being used to store grain and the church housing an Armagnac cellar. An arson attack in 1970 caused considerable damage but it was restored thanks to being purchased by the Gers department in 1972.

We will start with a few exterior pictures, with the church and one of the side buildings.

The Gothic cloister dates from the 14th century and includes 4 galleries around a small courtyard. . Its 14th century west gallery is made up of twin columns with capitals with foliage and masks. The Gothic gallery on the west side (shown first, note the pointed arches) is from the 14th century while the other 3 were destroyed during the Hundred Years' War are rebuilt starting in 1485. One some of the walls on the upper gallery are paintings from the 18th century.

A nice stone stairway leads from the monks dormitory on the upper floor (where you are not allowed to take pictures) into the church.

You can see the structure of the church but, again, no decoration at all. The space is also used for exhibiting artwork.

Heading out back, you can see the rear view of the church with the chapels, then the center part of the building, and then the right-side of the building. Since the monks had to be self-sufficient, there are garden plots for fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Tom remembered seeing this from last time although I don't believe we took any pictures of it. In a covered shed is a mosaic from the end of the 4th/start of the 5th century, but it isn't from the Abbey. The mosaic was discovered in 1976 by farmers in the nearby community of Valence-sur-Baïse. In 1984, after excavations by a local historian, it was removed and donated to the Department to be conserved here at the Abbey. The historians believe it was in the floor of a grand reception hall, with approximately 600 sq feet of mosaic conserved. I tried to get a few pictures to give you an idea of it. Pretty impressive when you think that 50 years ago, it was literally underneath a field.