France: Le Bec-Hellouin, Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec

nobody@ipernity.com (Jaap van 't Veen) — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 06:58:59 +0000

Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec (Abbey of Our Lady of Bec, also called Bec Abbey) is a Benedictine monastic foundation. The construction of the abbey started in 1034 by a man called Hellouin and continued through 1035. In the 12th century it was the most influential abbey of Anglo-Norman kingdom.

Bec Abbey was damaged during the Wars of Religion and left a ruin in the French Revolution but the 15th-century Tour Saint-Nicolas from the medieval monastery is still standing.

In 1948 the abbey was re-established as the Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec by a community of Benedictine monks of the Olivetan Congregation, who effected some restorations. Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec is the property of the French State, but there are still monks living in the abbey.

France - Fatouville-Grestain, abbey

nobody@ipernity.com (Jaap van 't Veen) — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 06:48:47 +0000

Jaap van 't Veen has posted:

de Conteville. The abbey was officially closed in 1757. The church buildings were demolished around 1766 and the rest of the abbey was destroyed in 1790.

At the end of the 12th century, the abbey owned seven country houses, twelve churches, a priory, three estates and several parishes, which together formed a domain of 5,830 hectares.

The abbey complex is located in a wooded park - surrounded by a boundary wall, parts of which date back to the Middle Ages - through which the Saint-Benoît spring with healing water flows. Today, only a few of the original buildings remain: a perfectly intact 12th-century vaulted refectory and a pillar from the abbey church with a commemorative plaque (added in 1928). From the 18th century the complex still has a beautiful stone barn, a little chapel and a manor.

Since 1960, the current owners have been committed to restoring this place. Nowadays the abbey is open for visitors and is offering a rich cultural programme of guided tours, conferences, concerts, theatre and exhibitions.

Photos, videos and docs of Jaap van 't Veen, with the keywords: "abbaye"

France: Le Bec-Hellouin, Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec

France - Fatouville-Grestain, abbey