Thoronet Abbey (french: L'abbaye du Thoronet) is a former
Cistercian abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The con ...
built in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century, now restored as a museum. It is sited between the towns of
Draguignan
Draguignan (; oc, Draguinhan) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of ...
and
Brignoles
Brignoles (; oc, Brinhòla) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Alongside Draguignan, it is one of two subprefectures in Var.
It was the summer residence of the counts of Pro ...
in the
Var
Var or VAR may refer to:
Places
* Var (department), a department of France
* Var (river), France
* Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran
* Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...
Department of
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, in southeast France. It is one of the three Cistercian abbeys in Provence, along with the
Sénanque Abbey and
Silvacane, that together are known as "the Three Sisters of Provence."
Thoronet Abbey is one of the best examples of the spirit of the Cistercian order. Even the acoustics of the church imposed a certain discipline upon the monks; because of the stone walls, which created a long echo, the monks were forced to sing slowly and perfectly together.
Chronology of Thoronet Abbey
*1098 - Founding of the first
Cistercian monastery at
Cîteaux, near
Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlies ...
, in
Burgundy, by
Robert de Molesme.
*1136 - A group of Cistercian monks from the Abbey of Mazan, a "granddaughter" of the monastery at Citeaux, found a new monastery called Notre-dame-des-Floriéges, in the
Var
Var or VAR may refer to:
Places
* Var (department), a department of France
* Var (river), France
* Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran
* Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...
region.
*1140 -
Raimond
Raimond is both a masculine given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Raimond Aumann (born 1963), German footballer
*Raimond Beccarie de Pavie, Seigneur de Fourquevaux (1508–1574), French soldier, politician a ...
and
Etienne des Baux donate land for a new monastery in a remote mountain valley 45 kilometers northwest of Fréjus.
*about 1157 The monks move from Floriéges to Le Thoronet
*about 1176 to 1200 Construction of the monastery
*1176 -
Alphonse I, the
Count of Provence
The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...
, confirms the Abbey property.
*1199 - the troubadour
Folquet de Marseille
Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (c. 1150 – 25 December 1231) came from a Genoese merchant family who lived in Marseille. He is known as a trobadour, and then as a fiercely anti ...
becomes Abbot of Le Thoronet.
*1785 - The Abbey is declared bankrupt and secularized.
*1791 A sale of Abbey property is announced -
*1840 Thoronet Abbey is one of the first buildings in France to be classified an historical monument.
*1841 - Restoration of the monastery begins.
*1854 - the French Government purchases the cloister and monks quarters.
* 1938 - the rest of the monastery is purchased by the French Government.
History
![Abbaye de Thoronet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Abbaye_de_Thoronet.jpg)
In 1098 Robert de Molesme founded a "new monastery" at
Cîteaux in
Burgundy, as a reaction to what he saw as the excessive luxury and decoration of
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monasteries, under the direction of
Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...
. He called for a stricter observance of the
Rule of St Benedict, written in the 6th century, and a sober aesthetic which emphasized volume, light, and fine masonry, eliminating the distraction of details.
Under
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order throug ...
, the Cistercian Order began a rapid expansion. By the time of his death in 1154, there were 280 Cistercian monasteries in France - by the end of the 12th century, over 500.
The first Cistercian community in Provence had settled at Notre-Dame de Florielle, on the Florieyes river near Tourtour. where they had been given land by the local lords of
Castellane
Castellane (; Provençal: ''Castelana'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. With about 1,600 inhabitants, Castellane has the distinction of being the least-populated sub-prefecture of France.
Its in ...
. The first site apparently was not satisfactory for their system of agriculture, so in about 1157 they moved twenty-five kilometers south, to land they already owned at Le Thoronet. The new site had the advantages of more fertile lands, several streams and a spring.
It is not known exactly when the monastery was built, but work was probably underway in 1176, when the title to the property was confirmed by the
Count of Provence
The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...
. The entire monastery was built at once, which helps explain its unusual architectural unity. The church was probably built first, at the end of the 12th century, followed by the rest of the monastery in the early 13th century.
The first known abbot of le Thoronet was
Folquet de Marseille
Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (c. 1150 – 25 December 1231) came from a Genoese merchant family who lived in Marseille. He is known as a trobadour, and then as a fiercely anti ...
, elected in 1199. Born about 1150 into a family of Genoese merchants, he had a remarkable career, first as a
troubadour
A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...
, a composer and singer of secular love songs, who was famous throughout medieval Europe. In 1195 he left his musical career and became a monk, then abbot, then, in 1205, the
Bishop of Toulouse
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...
. Less than a century after his death,
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
honored him by placing him as one of the inhabitants of Paradise, in ''
Paradiso'' Canto IX.
In the 13th century, there were no more than twenty-five monks in the monastery, but money came in from donations, and the Abbey owned extensive lands between upper Provence and the Mediterranean coast. The most important industry for the monastery was raising cattle and sheep. The meat was sold on the local market, and the skins of sheep were used for making
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...
, which was used in the
scriptorium
Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes.
However, lay scribes an ...
of the monastery. The Abbey also operated salt ponds at
Hyères
Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
The old town lies from the sea clustered arou ...
, and fisheries on the coast at
Martigues
Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte.
A di ...
,
Hyères
Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
The old town lies from the sea clustered arou ...
and
Saint-Maxime. Fish that was not required at the Abbey was sold on the local market.
Much of the farming and administration was done by the
lay brother
Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...
s, monks drawn from a lower social class, who shared the monastery with the
choir monks, who were educated and often from noble families. The lay brothers did not participate in the choir or in the decisions of the monastery, and slept in a separate building.
By the 14th century, the monastery was in decline. In 1328, the Abbot accused his own monks of trying to rob the local villagers, being only a few years after the
Great Famine. In 1348, Provence was devastated again, this time by the
Black Plague which further reduced the population. By 1433, there were only four monks living at Le Thoronet.
In the 14th century, the
popes at Avignon began the practice of naming outsiders as the abbots of monasteries, held ''
in commendam''. In the 15th century, this privilege was taken over by the kings of France, who often chose abbots for financial or political reasons. The new abbots ''in commendam'' received a share of the monastery's income, but did not reside there. By the 16th century, while the abbey church was maintained, the other buildings were largely in ruins. The monastery was probably abandoned for a time during the
Wars of Religion
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
.
In the 18th century, the abbot decided the order's rules were too strict, and added decorative features, such as statues, a fountain. and an avenue of chestnut trees. The Abbey was deeply in debt, and in 1785, the abbot, who lived in
Bourges, declared bankruptcy. Le Thoronet was deconsecrated in 1785, and the seven remaining monks moved to other churches or monasteries. The building was to be sold in 1791, but the state officials in charge of the sale declared that the church, cemetery, fountain and row of chestnut trees were "treasures of art and architecture", which should remain "the Property of the Nation."
[Molina, ''Le Thoronet Abbey'', pg. 13] The rest of the monastery buildings and lands were sold.
In 1840, the ruined buildings came to the attention of
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...
, a writer and the first official inspector of monuments. It was entered onto the first list of French ''
Monuments historiques
''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...
'', and restoration of the church and bell tower began in 1841. In 1854 the state bought the cloister, chapter-house, courtyard and dormitory, and in 1938, bought the remaining parts of the monastery still in private ownership.
Since 1978, the members of a religious order, the
Sisters of Bethlehem, have been celebrating Sunday Mass in the abbey.
The Abbey buildings
Following the Rule of St. Benedict, Thoronet Abbey was designed to be an autonomous community, taking care of all of its own needs. The monks lived isolated in the center of this community, where access by laymen was strictly forbidden.
The design of the Abbey was an expression of the religious beliefs of the Cistercians. It used the most basic and pure elements; rock, light, and water, to create an austere, pure and simple world for the monks who inhabited it. The placement of the church literally atop a rock symbolized the precept of building upon strong faith. The simplicity of the design was supposed to inspire a simple life, and the avoidance of distractions.
The Abbey was constructed of plainly-cut stones taken from a quarry close by. All the stones were the same kind and colour and matched the stony ground around the church, giving a harmony to the ensemble. The stones were carefully cut and placed to provide smooth
ashlar surfaces, to avoid any flaws or visual distractions.
The water supply was a crucial factor for the Cistercian monks; it was used for drinking and cooking, for powering the mill, and for religious ceremonies, such as the ''mandatum'', which took place once a week. The monks devised an ingenious water system, which probably provided running water in the kitchen and for the fountains where the monks washed, as well as pure water for religious ceremonies.
The Abbey Church
The Abbey church is placed on the highest point of the site, and is in the form of a Latin cross, about forty metres long and twenty metres wide, oriented east-west, with the choir and altar at the east end, as is usual. The exterior is perfectly plain, with no decoration. Since only the monks were permitted inside, there is no monumental entrance, but only two simple doors, for the lay brothers on the left and the monks on the right.
The door for the monks was known as the "Door of the Dead", for the bodies of monks who had died were taken out through this door after a mass. They were first placed on a ', a long shelf by the south wall, then buried directly in the earth of the cemetery.
The simple bell tower was probably constructed between 1170 and 1180, and is more than thirty meters high. Order rules prohibited bell towers of stone or of immoderate height, but exceptions were made in Provence, where
Mistral
Mistral may refer to:
* Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia
Automobiles
* Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970
* Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006
* Microp ...
winds blew away more fragile wooden structures.
Inside, the church consists of a main nave with three bays covered with a pointed barrel vault, and two side aisles. The arches supporting the vault rest upon half-columns, which rest upon carefully carved stone bases about two meters halfway up the walls of the nave.
The choir at the eastern end finishes with a half-dome vaulted
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
with three semicircular arched windows, symbolizing the Trinity. Three arcades in the nave give access to the other parts of the building. There are two small chapels in the apses of the transept, aligned the same way as the main sanctuary, as in the Cistercian abbeys of
Cîteaux and
Clairvaux.
The
chevet of the Abbey, the semi-circular space behind the altar, has no decoration, but the refinement of the workmanship, as well as the perfectly rounded form, was itself an expression of the religious ideas of the Cistercians. The circle was supposed to approach the perfection of the divine, as opposed to the square, which belonged in the secular world.
The three windows in the apse, the round
oculus above, draw attention to the altar. Facing east, they catch the first morning light, and face the same direction from which Christ was expected to return to earth. They and the four small windows in the transept let in just enough light to give life to the stone inside, particularly at the time of the sunrise and sunset, which were also the times of the most important religious services,
lauds and
vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...
. The light coming through the windows changed the color of the stone and created slowly moving shapes of darkness and light, marking the passage of time, the essential element of the life in the monastery.
The pale stained-glass windows date to 1935 - they were recreated following the model of 12th-century stained glass from
Obazine Abbey
Obazine Abbey, also known as Aubazine Abbey, was a Cistercian monastery in the present town of Aubazines in the ''département'' of Corrèze in the Limousin in France.
History
The monastery was founded in about 1134 by Saint Stephen of Obazine, w ...
in the
Corrèze
Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ...
.
The Monks' Building
The monks building is located to the north of the church, and is connected to it by stairways, which allowed the monks direct access to services.
The dormitory is on the upper floor of the monks' building. The abbot had a separate cell on the left side, up a short stairway. The dormitory was lit by rows of semicircular windows. A monk slept in front of each window.
The Sacristy, a room two meters high, three meters wide and four meters long, with a single window, built against the church transept, was where the church
vestments
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; this ...
and sacred vestments were kept. It had direct access to the church through a door into the transept. The
Sacristan was in charge of the treasury of the Abbey, rang the dormitory bell for the night services, and climbed to the roof to make astronomical observations to determine the exact time for religious services, depending upon the season.
The armarium (library) is a three-meter by three-meter room on the lower level of the monks' building, opening onto the cloister. The armarium contained the secular books used regularly by the monks. It is believed that it contained books of medicine, geometry, music, astrology, and the classical works of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
,
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
,
Horace and
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
.
The Chapter House, or The Capitulary Hall, was the room where the monks met daily for a reading of one chapter of the rule of St. Benedict, and to discuss community issues. Election of new abbots also took place in this room. Its architecture - with cross-ribbed vaults resting on two columns with decorated capitals, was the most refined in the monastery, and showed the influence of the new
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style. The walls and columns date to about 1170, the vaulting to 1200-1240.
During the reading of the Rule and discussions, the monks were seated upon wooden benches, and the Abbot was seated at the east, facing the entry. The main sculptural element is a simple cross of the order on the south column, before which the monks would bow briefly. A hand holding a cross, the symbol of authority of the abbot, is sculpted on the capital of the north column. He was sometimes buried in this room, so that after death his memory would add to the authority of the living abbot.
The Hall of the Monks, was at the north end of the monks' building, but fell into ruins, and little remains. The room was used for making clothing, as a workshop, for the training of the new monks, and as a
scriptorium
Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes.
However, lay scribes an ...
, the room where manuscripts were written, since it was the only heated room in the abbey.
The Cloister
The
cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
, in the middle of the monastery, was the center of monastery life. It measures about thirty meters on a side, is in the shape of an elongated trapezoid, and follows the terrain, sloping downward from the monks' building toward the river. Despite its odd shape, and its location on very uneven ground, it manages to maintain its architectural unity, and to blend with its natural environment; in some places the rock of the hillside becomes part of the architecture.
Construction began in 1175, making the cloister of Thoronet one of the oldest existing Cistercian cloisters. The south gallery is the oldest, followed by the east gallery, next to the chapter house, which has a more modern slightly pointed barrel vault ceiling. The construction was completed by the north gallery, beside the former refectory, and the west gallery. At a later date a second level of galleries was built, also since disappeared.
The thick walls of the galleries, their double arcades, the simple round openings over each central column, and the plain capitals give the cloister a particular power and simplicity.
A lavabo, or washing fountain, stands in the cloister in front of what had been the entrance to the refectory. It is placed in its own hexagonal structure, with a ribbed vault roof. The water came from a nearby spring, and was used by the monks for washing, shaving,
tonsure
Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice i ...
, and doing laundry. The lavabo is a reconstruction, based on a fragment of the original central basin.
The former North Wing
The north wing of a Cistercian monastery, facing the church, traditionally contains the refectory (dining room), the kitchens and the calefactory, or heated sitting room. The north wing fell into ruins and was abandoned in 1791.
Building for Lay Brothers
The wing of the monastery for the lay brothers dates to the thirteenth century, well after the other buildings. The building was two stories high, with a dining room on the ground floor and a dormitory above. Two arches of the building cross the Tombareu River. The latrines were located in this part of the building.
The Cellar
The cellar is a long rectangular room attached to the east gallery of the cloister. This building has undergone numerous remodelings, and is no longer its original shape. In the sixteenth century it was turned into a wine cellar, and the wine presses can still be seen.
Le Thoronet and Le Corbusier
Thoronet Abbey had a significant influence upon the Swiss architect
Le Corbusier Following the Second World War,
Father Couturier, a
Dominican priest and artist, who had contacts with contemporary artists
Marc Chagall,
Fernand Léger,
Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...
and
Pierre Bonnard, invited Le Corbusier to design a convent at
La Tourette
La Tourette () is a commune in the Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Loire department
The following is a list of the 323 communes of the Loire department of France.
The communes cooperate in the ...
, close to Lyon. Father Coutourier wrote to Le Corbusier in 1953: "I hope that you can go to Le Thoronet, and that you will like that place. It seems to me that there you will find the essence of what a monastery must have been like at the time it was built; a place where men lived by a vow of silence, devoted themselves to reflection and meditation and a communal life which has not changed very much over time." Le Corbusier visited Thoronet, and wrote an article about his visit, including the observation, "the light and the shadow are the loudspeakers of this architecture of truth." The convent that he eventually built has a number of features inspired by Thoronet, including the tower and the simple volumes, and the alternating full and empty spaces created by bright light falling on the walls.
The Influence of Le Thoronet
The British architect
John Pawson
John Ward Pawson , (born 1949, Halifax, England) is a British architect whose work is known for its minimalist aesthetic. Architectural Registration Board (ARB) of UK asked Dezeen magazine not to refer him as architect although this was criti ...
also used Thoronet as an inspiration for the cistercian abbey of Novy Dvur in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
(2004).
Le Thoronet was a source of inspiration for the Belgian poet
Henry Bauchau
Henry Bauchau (22 January 1913 – 21 September 2012) was a Belgian psychoanalyst, lawyer, and author of French prose and poetry.
Biography
Henry Bauchau was born in Mechelen, Belgium on 22 January 1913. He became a trial lawyer in Brussels in ...
(born 1913), who published in 1966 ''La Pierre Sans Chagrin''.
In 1964, the French architect
Fernand Pouillon
Fernand Pouillon (14 May 1912 – 24 July 1986) was a French architect, urban planner, building contractor and writer.
Pouillon was one of the most active and influential post-World War II architects and builders in France. He is remembered f ...
published ''Les pierres sauvages'', an historical novel in the form of the journal of a master worker at the abbey. It won the
prix des Deux Magots The Prix des Deux Magots is a major French literary prize. It is presented to new works, and is generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt.
The name derives from ...
(1965) and was praised by
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
as "a fascinating contribution to the understanding of the Middle Ages."
Sources and citations
See also
*
Damien Poisblaud
*
Sénanque Abbey
*
Silvacane Abbey
*
Bibliography
*
Pouillon, Fernand, 1964. ''Les Pierres sauvages'' (''The Stones of the Abbey'')
* Dimier, Père Anselme, 1982: ''L'art cistercien''. Editions Zodiaque: La Pierre-qui-Vire.
* Molina, Nathalie, 1999: ''Le Thoronet Abbey'', Monum - Editions du patrimoine.
* Denizeau, Gérard, 2003: ''Histoire Visuelle des Monuments de France''. Larousse: Paris.
* Fleischhauer, Carsten, 2003: ''Die Baukunst der Zisterzienser in der Provence: Sénanque - Le Thoronet - Silvacane''. Abteilung Architekturgeschichte des Kunsthistorischen Instituts der Universität zu Köln. Cologne University.
* ''France Mediéval'', 2004: Monum, Éditions du patrimoine/Guides Gallimard.
* Bastié, Aldo, nd: ''Les Chemins de la Provence Romane''. Éditions Ouest-France.
External links
Abbaye du Thoronet- Official site
L'Abbaye du Thoronet sur Abbayes en ProvenceL'architecture du Thoronet*
Romanes.com: Le Thoronet Abbey, photos and plan*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoronet Abbey, Le
Romanesque architecture in Provence
Cistercian monasteries in France
Buildings and structures in Var (department)
1120 establishments in Europe
1120s establishments in France
Religious organizations established in the 1130s
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
Churches in Var (department)
Museums in Var (department)
Religious museums in France
History museums in France
Monuments of the Centre des monuments nationaux