Prières Abbey ( or ''Notre-Dame de Prières''; ) is a former

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in the commune of Billiers in the department of

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, France, about 28 kilometres southeast of

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

near the coast and the mouth of the River Vilaine.

History

The abbey was founded in 1251 and richly endowed by Duke John I of Brittany, as penance for his earlier destruction of the Priory of Saint-Pabu and annexation of its lands during the construction of the Château de Suscinio. The new abbey was a daughter house of Buzay Abbey (of the filiation of Clairvaux), from where the first monks came. Among its temporal endowments were the saltpans of the

Guérande Guérande (; , ; ) is a medieval town located in the departments of France, department of Loire-Atlantique, and the administrative regions of France, region of Pays de la Loire, Western France. The inhabitants are referred to as ''Guérandais'' ...

peninsula. The abbey was rebuilt in the 17th century. In 1791, in the French Revolution, it was dissolved. The premises were subsequently used as a barracks. The site passed into private hands in 1801, after which most of the buildings were demolished. The remaining parts are now used by a rehabilitation centre.

Description

Of the church, rebuilt in the early 18th century by the architect

Olivier Delourme Olivier Delourme (1660–1729), nicknamed "the architect of Brittany", was a French architect of the "Grand Siècle" renowned for his many achievements still existing, mainly in Morbihan. Biography Delourme was born in 1660 in the village of K ...

, there remain only the tower and part of the former

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

converted into a chapel that contains the remains of the tombs of Duke John I (d. 1286) and of Isabella of Castile (d. 1328), the second wife of Duke John III of Brittany. Also extant are the 18th-century guest lodgings, some service buildings and the precinct wall of 1699.

Sources

* Bernard Peugniez, 2001: ''Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse.'' (new expanded edition, p. 90). Éditions Gaud, Moisenay * Jh.-M. Le Mené: ''Abbaye de Prières'' in ''Bulletin et Mémoires de la société polymathique du Morbihan'', 1903, pp. 8–80

External links

Website of the commune of Billiers: history and photos of the abbey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prieres Abbey Cistercian monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Morbihan 1250s establishments in France