Saint-Vincent Abbey is located in Senlis, in the Oise.
It was founded in 1065 by Queen Anne of kyiv who had married King Henry I of the Franks.
The new monastery then replaces an earlier building which left no remains.
The 11th century buildings have not been preserved because from the 12th century, the abbey church was rebuilt in a Gothic style by the same workshops already working on the construction site of the Senlis cathedral.
Presenting considerable dimensions, with a central nave 40 m long and a bell tower culminating at 41 m, remodeled in the 17th century (brick vaulting, raising of the nave) and 19th century (redevelopment of the facade and creation of a rose window), the plan of the church included a nave of three bays with aisle, a projecting transept and a choir with a flat apse flanked by two square chapels. The bell tower rises at the corner of the nave and the transept. As for the choir, it includes two ribbed vaulted bays, the first being higher than the second.
The capitals decorated with acanthus leaves and the profile of the different arches resemble those of the cathedral.
Having experienced a certain decline, the abbey occupied until then by canons of Saint-Augustin experienced a revival in the 17th century by becoming the nucleus of the Congregation of France. Its goal, after the Wars of Religion, was to reestablish in the Augustinian abbeys a rigorous observance advocated by the Church following the Council of Trent. At the same time, the convent buildings were rebuilt in a neo-classical style.
After the Revolution, the site was transformed for a time into barracks then into a prison but in 1836, a Catholic institution installed a high school there.
Today, the abbey, listed in 1862, remains a private secondary establishment.
Part of the site is open to the public during Heritage Days. Otherwise, the exteriors can be observed during a walk.
Information on +33 3 44 67 37 37.
