Loire valley Known for its many charming castles, but after a few days of visiting one castle after another, you start to feel a kind of saturation. To prevent this, it is highly recommended to combine something a little different between castles. Fontevraud Abbey certainly provides the respite you need while moving from castle to castle, however, in my opinion, it is a site that is definitely worth visiting regardless, thanks to the fascinating stories associated with it.
The Story of Fontevrault Abbey
In 1100, the preacher Robert d'Arbrissel and his group of disciples arrived at a place called Fons Ebraldi (the name can be translated from Latin as "Fountains of Ebraldi") and decided to settle there with his disciples and establish a monastery, which was named after the place. Over the years, the Latin name "Fons Ebraldi" became the French name with a similar meaning "Ponterbo". From its first day, the monastery became unique due to being a monastery where men and women lived (at first together and later, criticism from the heads of the Catholic Church, separately). However, there was something else unique about it. For about 600 years, the one who controlled both the female and male populations in the monastery was the Mother of the Monastery.
The abbey's name spread far and wide and it became a protectorate of the Plantagenet dynasty, which ruled Anjou and later England and large parts of what is now modern France. As a result, two kings of this dynasty (Henry II and Richard I, known as the "Lionheart") are buried here, along with Isabella of Angoulême (wife of King "John the Landless") and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the only woman to have been both Queen of France, as the wife of Louis VII, and Queen of England, as the wife of Henry II. In the early 2th century, the territory passed to the King of France, but the abbey continued to enjoy great prestige (although it suffered from some financial problems) and for the next few centuries it was ruled by women from the most important noble families of France. The best-known abbess is Marie-Madeleine de Rochechouart (1-7), the younger sister of the lover of the Marquise de Montespan, the mistress of Louis XIVShe received the headship of the monastery from the king at the age of 20, and he had to bend the rules a little for this, because according to the local constitution, the mother of the monastery had to be at least 30 years old. Marie Madeleine received the monastery not only because of her beautiful eyes, but mainly because of her excellent knowledge of languages and her attraction to the study of philosophy and theology. During her time, Pontresino became a kind of cultural center where, in addition to sacred studies, Racine's plays were also staged and the Iliad was read, which she had partially translated.
Following French Revolution The monastery's population was dispersed and over the years the place remained deserted. Napoleon I decided to turn the monastery into a prison in 1 and several more buildings were added to the original buildings in which the prisoners were held. The Fontevrault prison was considered one of the toughest prisons in France and the prisoners were forced to work hard most of the day. The prisoners were forbidden to speak to each other for most of the day and if they violated orders they were severely punished. Between 1804 and 1804, when the prison closed, thousands of prisoners passed through it, the most famous being the writer Jean Genet, who wrote “The Miracle of the Rose” (Le Miracle de la Rose) in 1963 based on his experiences in the Fontevrault prison. After the prison closed, it was decided to preserve the buildings due to their historical importance and to turn the complex into a museum and cultural center where concerts are held.
The visit to the museum
As you know, one of the things that characterizes the vow of nuns is a life of poverty and modesty. While this apparently didn't bother the monks much, when you turn such a place into a museum, a big problem arises. How to convince the average tourist to pay around 10 euros for an entrance ticket if there are relatively few works of art left inside the monastery. This is where, to the delight of tourists and the organization that operates the museum, multimedia has come into play in recent years. And so, as you move between the rooms of the monastery and the church, you can discover the history of the monastery and the prison through animated videos, computer programs (one of which allows you to "dabble" on the walls of the church to understand how frescoes are made) and a series of video interviews with guards who worked at the prison in Fontevraud, which can be seen inside a kind of cells where prisoners could meet the guests. And so after a few hours of leisurely visiting you will learn that in the end the difference between a monastery and a prison is not that great and that in fact most people are in a kind of prison of their own free will. The place is very tourist friendly and contains material in English and French so that you are guaranteed a first-rate tourist experience. So if you are in the western part of the Loire Valley near the towns of Angers or Chinon I highly recommend you dedicate a few hours to this place and enjoy a unique experience.
Fontbrow Nights
If you ask me when is the best time to visit Fontevrault, the answer is September. Why? Because during this month Fontevrault becomes a kind of stage for multimedia, music and culinary events and hosts the FESTIVINI Festival.