Notre-Dame de Hambye Abbey

A magnificent entry into the monastic Middle Ages.
Like the pilgrim of old, catch your breath before the gatehouse where William Paynel, Lord of Hambye and founder of the abbey, laid down his arms in 1145.
Once you cross this threshold, time stands still. And here you are, transported into this church; a formidable Gothic abbey. Its ruins soar above the horizon, their slender columns and proud buttresses rising from which spring the flights of flying buttresses that rest against the spandrels of the high windows, raised against the wind... in a final prayer.
Listen to this breathtaking, grandiose echo. You will then proceed to the cloister buildings. Their excellent state of preservation contrasts wonderfully with the initial impression of the place, offering above all a glimpse into the history of a medieval Norman monastery...

Even the chapter house, whose walls have preserved their stone benches and traces of their frescoes, makes it seem as if the monks never truly abandoned this nave where they gathered daily to hear a chapter of the rule they followed scrupulously read aloud; a rule they lived every day.