Bonport Abbey

A daughter of Cîteaux, born of royal fears.
The story goes that Richard the Lionheart thought he would perish, swallowed by the waters of the Seine, and, on his word as duke-king, promised to found a monastery here, provided Heaven granted him safe passage to the riverbank. He founded this monastery in 1189.
Bonport, a large and wealthy abbey, rich in both worldly possessions and spiritual values, where, in fulfillment of the royal wish, monks of the Cistercian Order had settled.

Look... This section of wall pierced by a niche, the armarium, where the monks kept the books that accompanied their pious walks in the cloister. But no more cloister, no more church. Sold off in 1791, the abbey passed to the Sieur de La Folie, whose name would have been amusing were it not associated with a demolition project.

The convent buildings, magnificently preserved, offer a rare opportunity to step into the heart of a medieval Norman Cistercian monastery. From room to room, from the refectory to the dormitory, you'll discover ribbed vaults and capitals adorned with recurved waterleaf motifs. Bonport, where the memory of the monks breathes life into the stones.