Abbey of Saint-Wandrille-de-Fontenelle

An abbey whose church recalls a time when… a grand reception! The Marquis of Stacpoole welcomes his guests to the romantic abbey setting of his French "fantasy."

The Revolution dismissed the monks.

An evening of theater! The writer Maeterlinck hosts at his home, the abbey. The anticlericalism of the 1901 law expelled the monks.

And yet, Saint-Wandrille, a spiritual haven. Despite the historical upheavals that forced the religious community into exile, it perpetuates the silence of those who withdrew into the fullness of their faith.
Do not be misled by the captivating beauty of the Gothic ruins, their string of arcades stretching beneath the vault of heaven. Here, life resides. And life is in God. For 14 centuries. Founded in 649 by Wandrille, a handsome aristocrat who preferred the monastic life to the trappings of court life, the abbey is steeped in history, its very walls etched into the past. Admire how the sumptuous classical architecture blends seamlessly with the splendors of its medieval heritage.

As for the church, so recent, yet so ancient... It was a barn in the Middle Ages. Brought from a farm, it is now this breathtaking nave beneath whose timbers the Gregorian chant of the services resonates.