La Grâce-Dieu Monastery (Aunis)
| Cistercian Abbey La Grâce-Dieu (Aunis) | |
|---|---|
 Preserved abbey structures |
|
| location | France Poitou-Charentes region Charente-Maritime department |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 12 ′ 15 ″ N , 0 ° 50 ′ 0 ″ W |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
84 |
| founding year | 1135 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1791 |
| Mother monastery | Clairvaux Monastery |
| Primary Abbey | Clairvaux Monastery |
|
Daughter monasteries |
|
The monastery of La Grâce-Dieu (Aunis) (Gratia Dei; not to be confused with La Grâce-Dieu (Franche-Comté) monastery in the Doubs department and Grace Dieu Abbey in Wales) is a former Cistercian abbey in the municipality of Benon in the Charente department. Maritime , Nouvelle-Aquitaine region , in France . It is located around 27 kilometers east of La Rochelle and seven kilometers southwest of Courçon in the historic Aunis landscape .
history
The monastery was founded by Bernhard von Clairvaux in 1135 or 1136 on land donated by the Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine William X. It was a subsidiary of the Clairvaux Primary Abbey . It participated, partly jointly with the monastery of St-Léonard-des-Chaumes , in the drainage of the moors of Andilly and La Brie and in the construction of the Canal de la Brune. Its prosperity allowed the foundation of the Charron monastery and the establishment of the priories of La Névoire and Rioux. In 1395 and 1599 the monastery was set on fire and destroyed. It was restored at the beginning of the 18th century. During the French Revolution , the abbey was dissolved in 1791 and then sold. The church was canceled. The monastery, now owned by the de la Motte-Rouge family, owned a town house in La Rochelle.
Buildings and plant
The abandoned monastery church was 41 m long and 11 m wide. The monk's wing of the enclosure with the chapter room, the parlatorium and the monk's hall and the stairs to the dormitory have been preserved, as well as the abbot's house from 1709 and the dovecote.
literature
- Bernard Peugniez: Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse. Nouvelle édition augmentée. Éditions Gaud, Moisenay 2001, ISBN 2-84080-044-6 , p. 393.