Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Monastery

Monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert

Interior of the abbey church to the east

The Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Monastery was a Benedictine monastery in the French commune of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert in the Hérault department . The preserved monastery buildings around the abbey church have been classified as Monument historique since 1840 .

history

According to tradition, the monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert was founded in penance around the year 804 by William of Aquitaine as the monastery of Gellone . The builder is Duke Wilhelm of Aquitaine and Toulouse (Guilhem de Toulouse) known as the “short nose”, a grandson of Karl Martell and a successful soldier of Charlemagne . Soon after his death Wilhelm was highly venerated and his grave is still an important stage for the pilgrims on the Via Tolosana , one of the French sections of the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela . With the canonization of Wilhelm in 1066 and the associated increase in the stream of pilgrims to his grave, Gellone became known under his new name "Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert". The origin of the abbey church and cloister is dated to the 11th to 13th centuries.

At the end of the 19th century, with funds from John D. Rockefeller II, a large part of the cloister was dismantled and later rebuilt in the New York Museum The Cloisters mixed with originals from other European monasteries. In addition, parts made it to the Archaeological Museum in Montpellier and other private collections. In 1998, the monastery grounds were recognized as part of the UNESCO World Heritage “ Camino de Santiago in France”.