Abbatiale de Saint-Savinien

About

The abbey of the Augustinians of Saint-Savinien was a monastery located in the territory of the commune of Saint-Savinien, in Saintonge, in the French department of Charente-Maritime and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

History: The establishment of the Augustine Order in Saint-Savinien seems to date back to the thirteenth century. Some chronicles evoke an abbey with up to a hundred monks at its peak. Devastated by the Huguenots in 1568, it had thirty monks, whose tradition reports that eight of them were thrown alive into a well during these events. The monastery was partially rebuilt in the following centuries, before being sold as a national property in 1791. The buildings served successively as distilleries, warehouses, before becoming the festival hall of the commune in 1937, a function it still preserves today. The abbey church has been included in the additional inventory of historic monuments since 1925, and is open to the public during Heritage Days.

Description: From the original monastic ensemble remains only the abbey church, whose oldest parts date back to the...