Savigny Abbey Ruins, Savigny-le-Vieux, France

Savigny Abbey (Abbaye de Savigny) was founded by Vital de Mortain, who set up a hermitage in the forest of Savigny (1105). Rudolph, lord of Fougeres, confirmed to the monastery (1112) the grants he had formerly made to Vital, and from then dates the foundation of the monastery. Its growth was rapid, and Vital and Saint Aymon were canonized.

In 1119 Pope Celestine II, then in Angers, took it under his immediate protection, and strongly commended it to the neighbouring nobles. Under Geoffroy, successor to Vital, Henry I of England established and generously endowed 29 monasteries of this Congregation in his dominions. Bernard of Clairvaux also held them in high esteem, and it was at his request that their monks, in the times of the antipope Anacletus, declared in favour of Pope Innocent II.Serlon, third successor of the Founder, found it difficult to retain his jurisdiction over the English monasteries, who wished to make themselves independent, and so determined to affiliate the entire Congregation to Citeaux, which was effected at the General Chapter of 1147. Several English monasteries objecting to this, were finally obliged to submit by Pope Eugene III (1148).

In later centuries discipline became relaxed. In the mid-16th century the Abbey was pillaged and partly burned by Calvinists, and records of the following year mention but twenty-four monks remaining.It continued to exist until the Revolution reduced it to a heap of ruins, and scattered its then existing members. The church was restored in 1869. It has been listed as a Monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture in 1924.

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Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

Jeanine Guitier (2 years ago)
We forget a lot all the volunteers who clean the abbey of Savigny le Vieux My parents were among the first and it's not a pity for me My father cleaned the holy virgin every year

Smart Home France (3 years ago)
Lovely tranquil location

flo floflo (4 years ago)
Renovation of exterior joinery

michel geslin (4 years ago)
I magnificent place with superb model of the abbey.

Florence Paccini (4 years ago)
De cette abbaye cistercienne construite au 12ème siècle, il ne reste que des ruines qu'on parcourt librement. A voir : la magnifique maquette.

Savigny Abbey Ruins

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Church of St Donatus