The royal abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély (also known as Saint-Jean Baptiste abbey), in Charente-Maritime, was founded 817 by Pépin d'Aquitaine, under the order of the Benedictines.
Preserving the saint's skull, it was pillaged several times by the Vikings and then in 1010, a new monastery was built. The relic is then found after having disappeared for a while...
Enriched by donations from the Counts of Anjou and the pilgrims, it quickly becomes one of the most powerful abbeys in western France. However, burned down in 1234 during the Hundred Years War, it was rebuilt before being devastated by the Huguenots in 1568 during the Wars of Religion. This last event causes the final disappearance of the relic and as a result, the pilgrims going to Compostela no longer make the detour via Saint-Jean-d'Angély…
If it has lost its prestige… religious, the abbey is however rebuilt from 1622 by monks in the 17th and 18th centuries, thus revealing itself to be a fine example of classical architecture.
The convent buildings are thus covered with French roofs, dormers topped with pine cones (cones) lighting the upper floors.
The abbey church, on the other hand, is incomplete when the Revolution occurs, which causes the departure of the monks.
In the meantime, Louis XIV was received in the abbey, whose library keeps the manuscript of Pascal's Pensées for some time…
In the 19th century, the arcades of the cloister were dismantled and transferred to become a covered market then a village hall.
And over the decades, the site first housed a high school before the town library occupied the former monks' refectory with its original (restored) paintings. In addition, rooms have preserved fireplaces and rococo-style stucco moldings.
Exhibitions are regularly organized as part of a cultural cooperation center set up within the walls of the former abbey.
Protected as historic monuments and UNESCO labeled as the Chemins de Saint-Jacques, the abbey is open to the public within the framework of the establishments which are housed there (library, exhibitions) and moreover, in summer, end of June to mid-September, access to the towers of the abbey church is open to guided tours: superb panoramic views guaranteed!
Information on +33 5 46 59 56 56.