| We made an early start as we need to get to Samur to watch the final of the Soccer World Cup. France are in the final so the atmosphere will be electric. We travelled through fertile river flats heavy with sunflowers in full bloom, protected from floods by high embankments. We climbed up from the river flats but it was still very fertile country, heavily wooded in part but still with plenty of sunflowers. We entered Fontevraud on a narrow cobblestone lane with a high stone wall to our right. At the time we didn't realise that it was the wall of the Abbey lands. We entered the Plantagenet Square and notice a small archway in the wall. Through the archway there was a large paved area leading down to a small building forming a wall securing the Abbey behind. We utilized the facilities in the office and caught a small glimpse of the Abbey through the toilet windows. |
| The Abbey was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preacher Robert of Arbrissel. The foundation flourished and became the center of a new monastic Order. The first permanent structures were built between 1110 and 1119. In the early years the Plantagenets were great benefactors of the abbey and while Isabella d'Anjou was the abbess, King Henry II's widow, Eleanor of Aquitaine, made the abbey her place of residence.The King of England, Henry II, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their son, King Richard the Lionheart, are all buried here. It was seized and disestablished as a monastery during the French Revolution. In 1963 it was given to the French Ministry of Culture, and a major restoration was undertaken. In 1975 the Centre culturel de l'Ouest was formed to preserve the abbey and promote it as a cultural venue. The complex was opened to the public in 1985. |