Sablonceaux Abbey
The ruins of the Sablonceaux Abbey are located around 20 kilometers west of Saintes , outside the French town of the same name between the villages of Nancras and Saujon in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region .
history
Wilhelm X. , Duke of Aquitaine , founded the Sablonceaux Abbey in 1136 as an Augustinian canon . Donations from the English royal family Anjou-Plantagenet and from influential families from the Charente region made the abbey very rich. In its heyday in the 12th and 13th centuries, it also benefited from the streams of pilgrims on a St. James' Way to Santiago de Compostela, not far from the abbey .
During the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) and the wars of religion in the 16th century , the abbey buildings were largely collapsed and heavily damaged , most recently as a result of the Huguenots being pillaged.
Building description
The abbey church is a single-nave domed church with a transept and a square choir . The western yoke of the ship and the narthex are completely destroyed, the second yoke still has remains of the side walls and connecting parts of a dome. The eastern yoke is closed to the west with a temporary wall. The slender Gothic bell tower, in the corner between the choir and the south arm of the transept, and with it the entire east facade of the abbey, is, however, quite well preserved.
Building history
The Abbey Church of Notre-Dame dates largely from the 12th century. The crossing and three yokes of the former ship were originally vaulted by circular domes, which were connected to the square floor plan by trumpets (hanging gussets). Domed churches are a typical element of the Aquitaine Romanesque . About 60 such domed churches have survived. The ship was over 60 meters long and the transept 30 meters wide. The choir is the oldest Gothic building element in the complex. It was probably added in the 13th century. In 1791, with the exception of the church, the monastery buildings were declared a national property and sold to the population after being demolished. In order to obtain a closed church space, a temporary wall was drawn in the west in front of the preserved domes in 1830, which still forms the end of the sacred space today.
The salvation of the remains of the abbey buildings, which were used for agriculture in the meantime, came from the Bishop of La Rochelle , who purchased the ruins in 1986. After extensive restoration and renovation work, the old buildings are used again by Catholic communities with an ecumenical vocation.
Gothic wall niche in the choir
Gothic wall pattern
Outbuilding with Romanesque windows
Chapter house window
Bell tower
Chapel under the bell tower
Crossing dome and choir
Remaining monastery buildings
On the north side of the building you can guess the original elements of the cloister and its scope. The components surrounding it are still present on three sides, for example the chapter house with its Romanesque window and door group and above it the dormitory . The chapter house itself no longer has a Romanesque vault, but only a flat floor ceiling on younger belt arches and a central support.
literature
- Thorsten Droste: Poitou: West France between Poitiers and Angoulême - the Atlantic coast from the Loire to the Gironde , DuMont-Verlag , Cologne , 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4456-2 .
- François Eygun: Saintonge romane , Zodiaque, Saint-Léger-Vauban , 1970
Web links
- L'Abbaye de Sablonceaux at www.chemin-neuf.fr (French)
- L'Abbaye de Sablonceaux at www.bernezac.com (French)
- L'Abbaye de Sablonceaux at www.charente-maritime.org (French)
Coordinates: 45 ° 43 '4.4 " N , 0 ° 52" 42.4 " W.