Abbaye du Valasse
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Dual Vows : Cistercian Beginnings and a New Vocation.
A man swore that he would found a monastery if he were to survive a shipwreck. A woman promised to make a pious donation if she were to escape an ambush. His name was Waleran, Count of Meulan, and he was returning from the Crusades. Hers was Matilda, heiress to the King of England and Duke of Normandy. She was fleeing a rival lord. Heaven was listening. And the Bishop of Rouen united their vows in a single foundation. So was created Valasse Abbey in 1152.
A Romanesque church was built, but it was destroyed in the Hundred Years' War. A Gothic church was then built, but it was razed in the French Revolution. The era of the monks was over.
However, there was some good fortune: located near the ribbed base of the 12th-century rooms, the conventual buildings had just been completed in the Classical style. A few renovations were enough to transform them into a charming château. Mediaeval splendour on the ground floor, precious woodwork upstairs... But in 1959, the estate became a dairy. Those were dark years.
Come and see the abbey, whose beautiful restoration has made it a sumptuous setting for its new, cultural vocation. And...make a vow!
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