Sauve-Majeure Abbey

Ruins of the Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure

The Grande-Sauve Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in the French region Nouvelle-Aquitaine . Its ruins rise on a hill above the town of La Sauve in the Gironde department , near the city of Bordeaux . Since 1998, the ruins have been listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage “ Camino de Santiago in France”.

history

The name of the abbey is derived from Silva Major , large forest. In 1079 the monk Gérard von Corbie founded a monastery there on the site of a former hermitage . With the support of William of Aquitaine and due to its location on the Camino de Santiago, it developed quickly, in the year of Gérard's death in 1095 it already had over 300 monks and twenty monasteries were assigned to it as priories .

The tomb of Gérard, who was canonized in 1197, developed into a pilgrimage site. The church dedicated to him was consecrated in 1231. It and the monastery buildings could be enlarged and equipped on the basis of rich donations over the next two hundred years. The remains of some ornate tombs can now be found in the parish church and the local museum of La Sauve.

With the Hundred Years War the slow decline of the still rich monastery began. After its end, six monks lived there. However, reconstruction was started from 1456, and new building projects were started regularly until the 17th century.

In the French Revolution (1789-1799) the monastery was dissolved and its riches confiscated. In 1804 the services were moved to the parish church of La Sauve, in 1809 the ceiling of the church collapsed. In the following years, the residents of the village demolished buildings in order to reuse the stones for their own buildings. In 1840 the ruins were placed under monument protection.

Between 1837 and 1910 the monastery buildings housed a school, but after the collapse of part of the building, the area was finally abandoned.

Building design

View from the church tower to the remains of the dormitory

The monastery was fortified. The walls, which overlook a slope on the north side of the church, form the highest point, from there the gardens and monastery buildings extend to the southeast. The main facade faces west. The shape of the church, the cloister , the refectory and the chapter house can still be read from the ruins .

Many walls are still standing, in particular the octagonal church tower and the southern wall of the nave survived the destruction. Originally the church had three aisles, closed by a five-section transept that was followed by five chapels. The cloister was connected to the south side. The still intact building on the west side is the refectory.

Web links

Commons : Abbaye de La Sauve-Majeure  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• WHC Nomination Documentation (PDF, 88.9 MB!), Application documents for the nomination as World Heritage, here: section "La Sauve, Ancienne abbaye de la Sauve Majeure"

Coordinates: 44 ° 46 '7.2 "  N , 0 ° 18" 42.4 "  W.