Abbaye Notre-Dame de Ganagobie by Mikani

Ganagobie Abbey (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame de Ganagobie) is a

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 ...

monastery in

Ganagobie Ganagobie (; oc, Ganagòbia) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It is the site of a Benedictine monastery, the Abbey of Our Lady of Ganagobie. History Prehistory and antiquity The commune has ...

in the department of

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is part of the

Solesmes Congregation The Solesmes Congregation is an association of monasteries within the Benedictine Confederation headed by the Abbey of Solesmes. History The congregation was founded in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI as the French Benedictine Congregation, with the then ...

of the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Confœderatio Benedictina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti) is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monasti ...

and as such focuses on

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

A Cluniac Priory

The first monastic foundation on this remote and mountainous site appears to date from the 9th or 10th century. Among the first documentary records is a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

of Pope Stephen VIII in 939 confirming the possessions of

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

, among them the monastery at Ganagobie. It was suppressed in 1789 under the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

and sold off in 1791 during the course of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, after which large parts of the buildings were demolished.

Gift to Marseilles Priory

In 1865 the Benedictines of Solesmes under

Dom Prosper Guéranger Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an ethn ...

founded the Priory of St. Madeleine in Marseilles, or Marseilles Priory. In 1891 the Comte de Malijay, by that time the owner of the priory site at Ganagobie, made a gift of to the Marseilles Priory. In the course of repair and restoration work on the new property, important medieval mosaics were discovered in 1898.

A Dependency of Hautecombe Abbey

In 1901 however the community at Marseilles were forced by the Association Laws to leave France. They took refuge in Italy and did not return until 1922, when they took up residence at

Hautecombe Abbey Hautecombe Abbey (french: Abbaye d'Hautecombe, ; la, Altaecumbaeum) is a former Cistercian monastery, later a Benedictine monastery, in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille in Savoie, France. For centuries it was the burial place of the members of the H ...

, of which Ganagobie was from then on a priory, of one or two monks only.

A Benedictine Abbey

In 1987, after decades of restoration work, the whole community of Hautecombe decided to move to Ganagobie, which they did in 1992.

Sources

Ganagobie Abbey official website
{{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in France Cluniac monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Churches in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence