Notre Dame de Morienval

About

The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Morienval is a former Benedictine abbey of women, probably founded during the third quarter of the 9th century by Charles le Chauve, in a valley close to Crépy-en-Valois, on the present municipality of Morienval in Oise. Since the abolition of the abbey in 1745, his church has served as a parish church in the village. It is called Saint Denis of the former parish church demolished in 1750.

The rare convent buildings of the former Abbey that were not demolished after the French Revolution belong to a private owner and do not visit. It is anyway its impressive Romanesque church that makes Morienval famous. It was built from the middle of the 11th century and is thus one of the oldest Romanesque churches in the region, where Carolingian architecture continued for a long time.

Thus, the design of the Morienval Abbey with a facade tower, two bedside towers, a transept-bas and a stepbed bedside is still part of the Carolingian tradition. The 11th century twin towers with their three floors of bays do not have many similar in the Oise. The fake...