Mont-Saint-Éloi Abbey
The abbey of Mont Saint-Eloi is a former abbey in the French municipality of Mont-Saint-Eloi in the Pas-de-Calais .
history
According to legend, St. Eligius , Bishop of Noyon and Tournai , regularly retired to pray on the hill on which the abbey was later built. He is said to have donated a small prayer house there, which subsequently attracted numerous hermits . His successor, Bishop Vindicianus, chose the place as his final resting place. When his grave was rediscovered in 929, a miracle is said to have occurred on it, which is why the then Bishop Fulbert had a basilica built on the site .
As a result of the church reform in 1068, the religious community of Mont-Saint-Éloi became a community of Augustinian choirs. The abbots were appointed by the bishops of Cambrai and Arras . From 1208 to 1221 the abbey church was rebuilt in Gothic style and in 1750 Abbot Roussel had the church torn down and rebuilt in classicist style. In the course of the French Revolution , the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Éloi, which had achieved an influential position over the centuries, was closed and the last of the 46 abbots who had headed the abbey since the 11th century was executed. In 1793 the abbey buildings were razed and used as building material. The government and the department bought the last remains of the abbey in 1836 in order to save it from complete destruction. At that time, only the west facade of the church remained.
During the First World War , the towers of the church were used as an observation point by the French army from 1914 and were partially destroyed by the German artillery in 1915 . The ruins of the abbey were listed as a historical monument in 1921.
architecture
Today only part of the west facade of the abbey church remains. This was originally 53 meters high and comprised five floors. The top floor was destroyed by artillery bombardment during World War I; today it is 44 meters high. The first two floors are made of sandstone , the other two floors of chalk . The cornice was restored in 1990.
Apart from that, only a horse trough, part of the vestibule, the surrounding wall and some farm buildings have survived from the abbey.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mont-Saint-Eloi - ruins of the monastery towers. on: wegedererinnerung-nordfrankreich.com
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 58 ″ N , 2 ° 41 ′ 37 ″ E