The abbey of Combelongue was founded in 1138 by Arnauld d'Austria, count of Pallars for one of his sons Antoine, who became the first abbot. It was on the way of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela which made the abbey prosperous until the 14th century.
From 1446 the abbey began to decline. It was affected by the Black Death (1353-1355) and damaged during the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religion. In 1568, Combelongue Abbey was devastated by Protestants from the Tarascon region. In 1789 the abbey was looted and burned. In 1791 it was secularized and later sold as national property .
Built entirely of pink brick, this Romanesque abbey is one of the few witnesses of the Mudejar influence in the region.
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.