Vestiges de l'ancienne abbaye de Fontdouce

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

Abbey founded in 1117 by the Benedictine Guillaume de Conchamps, belonging to the family of Taillebourg. After a long period of prosperity, the abbey was devastated during the Hundred Years' War and then the Wars of Religion. Having fallen into commendam, it became in 1783 a quarry which supplied stones for repairs to the church of Saint-Bris. Sold as national property at the Revolution. The abbey corresponded to the arrangements of Benedictine abbeys. The great abbatial church, of which little remains (bundle of columns of the transept and wall of the transept arm), was destroyed. The primitive Romanesque church remains entire, called the abbot's chapel. It presents a rectangular plan with semi-circular abside and possesses a crypt of the dimensions of the church. In the 18th century, this church was transformed in part into living quarters and divided into rooms. A building designated as a cellier is also well preserved. Almost opposite is found a mutilated building, doubtless the former guest house. A campanile of the 17th century, with bell, rises above.