Abbaye

English translation

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History

A priory was founded in 1095 by Guillaume de Montsoreau. Given to the abbey of Saint-Etienne-des-Vaux in Limousin, this priory was erected into an abbey around 1100. In 1416, part of the church and the claustral buildings were burnt, then rebuilt from 1466 to 1491 by Jeanne de France. In 1751, a hurricane devastated the abbey church which was abandoned to ruin and of which no trace remains. Rabelais began his studies there, and set episodes of the Picroline war there. Of the old monastery there remains the Econome, from the 15th century, whose east façade is accompanied by a polygonal staircase tower. Chapel of the 17th century with semi-circular apse. Barn of the 15th century. The 15th-century cellars are surmounted by a large hall which was probably a dormitory. The ground floor is divided by two transverse barrel-vaulted corridors and comprises several rooms barrel-vaulted in round arch. Finally, there also remains a group of conventional buildings, the northernmost of which presents, in its basement, elements from the 12th century. A hall was vaulted in the 13th century on ribs and liernes. To the east and south of this building were built 15th-century buildings whose façades were altered in the 17th and 19th centuries. A circular dovecote is found to the east of the previous buildings.