Loc-Dieu monastery
| Loc-Dieu Cistercian Abbey | |
|---|---|
 View of the abbey |
|
| location |
 FranceOccitania region Aveyron department |
| Coordinates: | 44 ° 20 '22 " N , 1 ° 55' 51" E |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
378 |
| founding year | 1123 by Benedictines |
| Cistercian since | 1162 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1791 |
| Mother monastery | Dalon Monastery |
| Primary Abbey | Pontigny monastery |
|
Daughter monasteries |
no |
The Loc-Dieu Abbey (Locus Dei) is a former Cistercian abbey in the town of Martiel in the department of Aveyron region Occitania in France . The monastery is located around nine kilometers west of Villefranche-de-Rouergue on the border of the historical landscapes of Rouergue and Quercy in a place formerly known as locus diaboli .
history
The monastery was around 1123 after the Benedictine rule of the monastery Dalon established by it in 1162 filiation of Branch Pontigny joined the Cistercian order. Before that, Loc-Dieu had set up the Les Chambons monastery , but it was subordinated to Sénanque . First the construction of the convent building began, not until 1159 with that of the church. The work was hampered by financial difficulties, which were overcome with support from the monasteries of Bonneval and Pontigny, and by the Albigensian Wars. The monastery church was consecrated in 1189. On the basis of donations, the monastery was able to build the Grangie opposite it and other Grangien (L'Albenque; le Merlet; Marinesques) and the Fontaynous domain and cultivate some lands on the Causse du Larzac . During the Hundred Years War the monastery was occupied, looted and finally set on fire in 1411, but the church does not appear to have been damaged. The cloister, chapter house and convent building were rebuilt between 1430 and 1470 with funds from the Volonzac and Firminhac families. The abbey was also fortified. The number of monks decreased from 12 to 20 by the 15th century to three in the 18th century. During the French Revolution , the monastery, which was in poor condition, was closed and then sold. It was subsequently used as a farm and as a stable. In 1812 it was sold to the Cibiel family from Villefranche, who carried out extensive repairs from 1840 and had parts of the building renovated in the Louis Philippe style and neo-Gothic. The monumental vestibule was designed by the architect Paul Gout . In 1940 paintings from the Louvre in Paris were relocated to the unsuitable former abbey.
Buildings and plant
The cross-rib vaulted, but still Romanesque structure, the architecture of which is influenced by Pontigny and which is considered to be the earliest Gothic church in the region, has a main nave over twenty meters high with ten windows in the arcades and narrow aisles as well as a transept with four just closed Chapels. The crossing is surmounted by a square bell tower with a pyramid roof and twin windows. The east end with five windows ends in a pentagonal closed apse . The facade has an ogival portal and a tall, narrow window. The choir stalls have come to Villefranche. The cloister, which was completed around 1470 and adjoins the church to the south, has been preserved except for the north wing. Above it is a closed gallery with echoes of the Renaissance architecture . The vaults of the large chapter house are supported by two central pillars. The complex was classified as a monument historique in 1989 .
View from the west
View from the east
literature
- Françoise Bagueris: Ancienne Abbaye Notre-Dame de Loc Dieu. In: Anciennes abbayes en Midi-Pyrénées. 2nd edition. Randonnées Pyrénéennes et al., Tarbes et al. 1991, ISBN 2-905521-45-7 .
- Camille de Montalivet: Loc-Dieu. Le passé recomposé. In: Dossiers d'Archéologie. No. 234, June / July 1998, ISSN 1141-7137 , pp. 76-77.
- Bernard Peugniez: Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse. Nouvelle édition augmentée. Éditions Gaud, Moisenay 2001, ISBN 2-84080-044-6 , pp. 245-248.
