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Alet-les-Bains Abbey-Cathedral

Alet-les-Bains Abbey-Cathedral

Alet-les-Bains, FR

The cathedral is built on a former Carolingian church, itself on a Gallo-Roman temple. The present building has some elements dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries, but most of the building dates from the 17th period when Louis XIV created the Diocese of Alès to fight the Huguenots.

Abbazia di Pomposa

Abbazia di Pomposa

Codigoro, IT

The Abbey of Pomposa is a 9th-century abbey and one of the most important in Northern Italy. The abbey visible today was consecrated in 1026 by Abbot Guido. At the same time, the monk Guido d'Arezzo (992-1033) conceived the modern musical notation and fixed the names of the musical notes. In 1653, Pope Innocent X suppressed the monastery, which was bought by the Guiccioli family of Ravenna in 1802. At the end of the 19th century, its ownership passed to the Italian state. The oldest part of the adjoining Basilica of Santa Maria dates from the 8th-9th centuries. The bell tower dates back to 1063 and is reminiscent of the Abbey of San Mercuriale in the nearby town of Forlì.

Abbazia di San Domenico

Abbazia di San Domenico

Sora, IT

The monastery of San Domenico has been a Benedictine abbey since 1011, and a Cistercian priory since 1222. Monastic life ceased in 1653, but the monastery was repopulated by the Casamari in 1833 and still exists today. The monastery's church has been a parish church since 1935 and has held the title of minor basilica since the celebration of the millennium in 2011. The Cistercian character of the church has been preserved despite the damage caused by earthquakes.

Abbazia di San Mercuriale

Abbazia di San Mercuriale

Forlì, IT

The Abbey of San Mercuriale, also known as the Church of San Mercuriale, is an abbey completed around 1181 in Lombard Romanesque style after the previous structure burnt down in 1173. In the 14th century, the porch was replaced by the Gothic portal that still exists and the two side chapels on the façade were built as an extension of the structure and demolished in 1646. The apse was also rebuilt in 1585. In 1646, extensive reconstruction work was undertaken. The work concerned both the façade and the body of the church, with the aim of creating a well-lit interior environment. The 14th-century connecting portico was also demolished to make room for the two entrances to the side aisles. The tower of the Abbey of San Merculiare, at 75 metres long, is one of the highest in the country.

Abbey Church of Notre-Dame

Abbey Church of Notre-Dame

Mouzon, FR

Notre-Dame de Mouzon Abbey is the former church of the abbey of Mouzon, in the Ardennes in France. The evolution of this abbey in the Middle Ages is linked to the relics sheltered in this place, in particular those of Saint Victor and Saint Arnoul. Object of an ostentatious cult, these relics became sources of material income. The influx of pilgrims imposed the construction of this building, in the 12th and 13th centuries, which was inspired by the first Gothic-style buildings, but already heralded, by certain technical choices, a second generation. The dimensions are relatively small.

Abbey Church of Otterberg

Abbey Church of Otterberg

Otterberg, DE

The Abbey Church of Otterberg was founded in 1143 by Cistercians as the abbey church of a daughter abbey of the Eberbach monastery. In the 15th century, the monastery slowly declined. In 1504, and in 1525 during the Peasants' War, the monastery was burned and plundered. At the end of the 16th century, the abbey church began to be used simultaneously by the Catholic and Protestant parishes, but not without causing disputes. In 1708, therefore, a separation wall was built between the two spaces. The choir hall with the transept is now used as the Catholic part, the remaining nave as the Protestant part. In 1979, the wall was removed as part of a major renovation, but the structure of the property was not changed.

Abbey Church of Saint-Cesaire

Abbey Church of Saint-Cesaire

Maurs La Jolie, FR

The construction of a third abbey church in Maurs-la-Jolie was undertaken at the end of the 14th century after two destructions in the 11th and 12th centuries. The choir dates from the beginning of the 15th century (date 1406 on one of the stained glass windows), as does the western portal.

Abbey Church of Saint-Geraud

Abbey Church of Saint-Geraud

Aurillac, FR

Former Benedictine abbey which was the model for the one in Cluny. It was founded before 885 in Auvergne by Count Géraud d'Aurillac.

Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre Notre-Dame-des-Ardents

Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre Notre-Dame-des-Ardents

Lagny-sur-Marne, FR

The abbey was founded in the 7th century, and is one of the few buildings in the town that survive from this period. It has been rebuilt several times following various destructions (natural or not). Joan of Arc stayed there in 1430 and performed a "miracle" in this church: the story is told there.

Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul

Évaux-les-Bains, FR

The history of the monument begins when canons gather around the relics of the hermit Marien, who died in 513, located in the old Roman spa town of Evaux. The monument was an important monastery in the 9th century. The church was only attached in 1264 to the monastery of Saint-Amable de Riom.

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