Europe's largest monastic city
The Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, with its 13 hectares, which combines culture, heritage and, of course, the art of living in the Val de Loire, is no longer to be missed!
Very unusual for the time, its creator, a monk, decreed that the men and women of the abbey would be led by an abbess!
Over the ages, the abbey has changed its purpose somewhat, since after having welcomed many nobles of royal blood, it became, under Napoleon, an extremely harsh prison!
An exceptional Museum of Modern Art
The abbey hosts, in a rich cultural programme, numerous exhibitions and events.
It now hosts, since the beginning of December 2020, an exceptionally rich Museum of Modern Art, if only because of the diversity of what it presents. The museum's collection is made up of some 900 works, which come from a donation by Martine and Léon Cligman who, for some sixty years, have brought together paintings, sculptures and remarkable antiques, as well as objects from Africa, Oceania, Asia and America. This donation is very fittingly named after both of them, since none of the objects presented were acquired without a common agreement, a shared love affair.
Not only is the clash between this collection from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the passage of the centuries in the abbey particularly unusual, but, allowing a cultural journey through time, it also offers the possibility of a particularly enriching stay.
And, as gastronomy is part of the culture (especially French!), treat yourself to a gourmet stopover in the starred restaurant!
49590 Fontevraud l’abbaye
Le restaurant Tél. : 02 46 46 10 10
Click on the image
