L'Étoile monastery
| Cistercian Abbey L'Étoile | |
|---|---|
 former monastery church from the west |
|
| location |
 France,Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Vienne department |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 39 '14 " N , 0 ° 42' 12" E |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
210 |
| founding year | 1124 by Benedictines |
| Cistercian since | 1145 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1791 |
| Mother monastery | Pontigny monastery |
| Primary Abbey | Pontigny monastery |
|
Daughter monasteries |
no |
The monastery L'Étoile (Stella) is a former Cistercian abbey in the town of Archigny in the department Vienne region Nouvelle-Aquitaine , in France , on a tributary of the river ozone. The monastery is located around 18 kilometers southeast of Châtellerault and 35 kilometers east of Poitiers .
history
The monastery was founded by Guy de Cenuis in 1124 at a hermitage of Isembaud de l'Étoile, which had existed at least since 1117 in the place initially called Font-à-Chaux . A donation was made by the abbot of the Benedictine monastery Fontgombault , on which the monastery initially depended. In 1145 it joined the Cistercian order as a subsidiary of the Pontigny Primary Abbey . The abbey flourished until the middle of the 14th century, but then fell into disrepair , especially during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion . In the 15th century, the abbey was rebuilt under Abbot Jean Choppelin. From the beginning of the 17th century until the second half of the 18th century, the abbey was again led by regular abbots (among them Jérôme Petit and Jean-Bernard de Cerizay du Teillé), which was the next in France at this time prevailed, was extraordinary. The penultimate abbot, the Canadian Joseph Lacorne de Chapt, settled refugees from Acadia in the area . In 1789 only one monk lived in the monastery, which in 1791 fell into disuse during the French Revolution and was subsequently sold as a national property and was subsequently used for agriculture. The transept and vaults of the church collapsed and the nave served as a barn for a long time. The decline ended in the 20th century.
The abbey had two significant granges : GRAILLE and Aigues-Joignant, as well as several farms , namely L'Épine, Chenu, la Grange-Neuve, la Marnière, le petit Nieuil and Cours du Pré.
Buildings and plant
Of the complex built in the second half of the 12th century under Abbot Isaac de l'Étoile, the sacristy , the walls of the chapter hall , which was redesigned in the Gothic style in the 12th century , a chapel on the south transept and the foundations of the nave of the church as well as the Structure of the Konversenhaus preserved.
The church has been preserved up to the height of the windows without the transepts and the choir. The originally three-aisled nave was renewed with a single nave in the 15th century. The interior of the side chapels of the right (south) transept has also been preserved. The tapered barrel vaulted sacristy and the later groin vaulted chapter house with two columns have also been preserved in their Gothic shape. The parlatorium was converted into a passage into the garden in 1670. To the south closes lockup on. The galleries of the cloister south of the church have disappeared. The refectory , of which only remains have been preserved, stood perpendicular to the south wing of the cloister. The Konversentrakt in the west is still based on the layout of the 12th century, but has been rebuilt several times. The southern part was established as an abbot's house in the 15th century.
In 1915 part of the building was declared a monument historique , in 1991 the entire complex. The convent buildings were taken over by the municipality of Archigny and restored from 1990 onwards. The former mill serves as a visitor center.
literature
- Claude Garda: L'Étoile - silence et clarté. In: Dossiers d'Archéologie. No. 234, 1998, ISSN 1141-7137 , pp. 54-55.
- Bernard Peugniez: Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse. Nouvelle édition augmentée. Éditions Gaud, Moisenay 2001, ISBN 2-84080-044-6 , pp. 396-397.
