Cimetière Saint-Benoît, enfeux et chapelle sépulcrale

English translation

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History

Originally belonging to the abbey, the cemetery became public at the time of the reconstruction of the church in the 14th century. The first burials were those of monks around the chevet of their church. Subsequently, the cemetery became the only one intra-muros and expanded. A circular cistern served as a common tomb for children who died without baptism. A series of nine burial niches was discovered in a retaining wall. The burial chapel is named the Lantern of the Dead. In the enclosure of the lantern there is a calvary. On an octagonal pedestal rises a cross. The face presents Christ. Opposite is found the Virgin holding the seated Child Jesus. From the foot of the cross extends a crosspiece which bears, on the right, a statuette of a holy woman; on the left, a statuette of Saint John the Baptist. Under the two ends of this crosspiece, a cherub holds an escutcheon tightly against himself.