NOTRE-DAME D'OURSCAMP ABBEY
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A former Cistercian abbey with a medieval abbey church, a site that invites meditation in Chiry-Ourscamp.
It's a site that makes a strong impression on us, both for its history, its ruined abbey and its large park, perfect for picnics. All that remains of the medieval abbey church is part of the choir and transept. Plundered during the Hundred Years' War, transformed into a spinning mill in the 19th century and damaged by French shells in 1915, the former Cistercian abbey was not spared! Better preserved, the 17th- and 18th-century convent buildings bear on their pediment the bear from which the abbey takes its name. Legend has it that in 640, Saint Éloi founded an oratory on its site. During construction, a bear appeared and devoured the ox pulling a stone cart. It was he who replaced him at work. The Gesvres wing is now home to the brothers of the Servants of Jesus and Mary congregation, who restored the abbey's religious function in 1941. See also the large chapel, formerly known as the "Hall of the Dead". Built around 1220, it was originally a treatment room where infirm monks were housed and, by extension, became the infirmary. It was successively used as a war hospital, became a carpentry workshop, then a chapel for the commune's inhabitants, who no longer had a parish in 1854. Today, it is used for religious services. Restored since 2017, with the help of an integration program, the abbey has received the "Patrimoine emploi" award from the Fondation du Patrimoine.
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Members' reviews on NOTRE-DAME D'OURSCAMP ABBEY
The ratings and reviews below reflect the subjective opinions of members and not the opinion of The Little Witty.
On se plait à imaginer ce qu'elle fut dans le temps et à rêver au temps passé !
the guided tour makes us rediscover the site until today