Details
Founded: 10th centuryCategory: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Frankish kingdoms (France)
User Reviews
Saint-Sever-Calvados Abbey was founded by Guillaume Sanche, the lord of Gascony in the late 10th century. According to the monastic chronicles, this was as the result of a vow he made after the battle of Taller, in Gascony, in which he defeated the Vikings (982). In 1060, after a fire, the abbey was reconstructed on the model of Cluny under the direction of the abbot Gregori de Montaner. The Saint-Sever Beatus was the work of monks working under the direction of the same abbot; Abbot Gregori held the post from 1028 to 1072.
Today there is a Gothic abbey church and a bell-tower on opposite sides of the square. There were centuries when people built, and others when they did not hesitate to split a building in two. The choir was a Benedictine enclosure, with the other half open to the people. However, except for the tower, this second half of the church has not been survived. The French Revolution drove the monks away and the abbey was closed.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.
