SAINT-PE-DE-BIGORRE ABBEY
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Benedictine abbey in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, rich in history, a place of pilgrimage on the road to Compostela.
In 1022, the small hamlet of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre was called Générès. The duke Sanche Guillaume de Gascogne came to pass there. He was ill and was miraculously cured. He then decided to found a Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Peter. This one takes the name of Saint-Pé-de-Génerès, then Saint-Pé-de-Geyres before becoming Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre. In the 12th century, the monks built a transept and a choir on the west side. It quickly became important because it was located on one of the four roads to Compostela that crossed the Pyrenees at that time. The hamlet became a major place of pilgrimage until the 13th century. The monastery will know thereafter an eventful history, in particular during the wars of Religion. The English occupation of Gascony in the 14th century limited the passage of pilgrims. The Reformers sacked the church in 1569 and the earthquake of 1661 seriously damaged the monastery. The buildings were rebuilt on a much smaller scale between 1676 and 1681. The monastery was finally abandoned after the Revolution. Only a part of the triple nave and two oriented apses remain of the church. The abbey was purchased in May 2017 and became the "Maronite House of the Mother of Mercy"; a restoration began. The municipality and the various local actors joined together to commemorate, in 2022, the 1000 years of the foundation of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre.
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