The Abbey of St Paul, Verdun (), is a former

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

monastery in

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, department of Meuse,

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

region, France. The surviving buildings are used for civic purposes. The abbey was founded in 973 by

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monks. In 1135 it passed to the Premonstratensians, then not long established. The abbey was destroyed and rebuilt several times, most recently in the 17th century. In 1790, during the French Revolution, a new church was being built. Both that and the existing 17th-century church were destroyed. The 17th-century conventual buildings survived, and now accommodate the ''palais de justice'' of Verdun and the offices of the ''

sous-préfecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures ...

'' of the Meuse. The former abbey was noted as a ''

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 collection of buildings, ...

'' on 2 December 1926 and part of the interiors on 23 November 1946.

References

* Philippe Bonnet, ''Les Constructions de l'Ordre de Prémontré en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles''. Paris, Arts et métiers graphiques, coll. "Bibliothèque de la Société française d'archéologie" (no 15), 1983 * Bernard Ardura (preface by René Taveneaux), ''Abbayes, prieurés et monastères de l'ordre de Prémontré en France des origines à nos jours: dictionnaire historique et bibliographique''. Nancy, Presses universitaires de Nancy, 1993 Premonstratensian monasteries in France Monuments historiques of Meuse (department) Abbey of Saint Paul Churches in Grand Est {{France-Christian-monastery-stub

References

Further reading