Savigny-le-Vieux Abbey

These ancient walls, once a model of religious fervor.

Sections of walls entwined in ivy, the bases of ancient pillars, a Romanesque porch opening onto the valley... The forest once covered the surrounding area.

And Saint Vital withdrew, a hermit, to these woods. Then, in 1112, he founded an abbey: Savigny, the great and prestigious mother abbey of the Benedictine reform in Normandy. Before adopting the Cistercian Observance in 1147, it had spread throughout the duchy-kingdom and boasted more than thirty houses both in England and on this side of the Channel.

But the Revolution struck, oh how destructive! You will be told that Henry II Plantagenet stayed within these walls; that Saint Louis passed through this porch. But these pillars, erected in response to prayers… The memory of this place belongs to the monks whose names have not been preserved through the centuries, only their vow of humility and religious fervor. Here they served God. Here they made the land fruitful. To better understand them and rediscover how they lived, continue your visit to Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët. The Center for Sacred Art opens the doors to a reconstructed model of their abbey.