ABBAYE NOTRE DAME DE GANAGOBIE

Overlooking the Durance valley, the Ganagobie plateau contains the memory of a human and monastic presence for a very long time. Before becoming bishop of Sisteron in 964 and handing over his property to the abbey of Cluny, Jean rebuilt a church dedicated to Notre-Dame and a chapel to Saint John the Baptist. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the monastery, occupied by thirteen monks, experienced influence and prosperity. In the following centuries, the monastery fell under the regime of the Commende. From 1632 to 1690, under the priorate of Jacques (librarian to Cardinal de Richelieu) and Pierre de Gaffarel, the abbey experienced a new expansion. In 1789, the priory was closed before being sold as national property in 1791. The year 1794 saw the demolition of the choir and the transept of the church as well as the eastern part of the monastery. The Benedictines of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Marseille, to whom it was ceded in 1891 by the Count of Malijay, undertook its restoration. The anti-clerical laws of 1901 interrupted the work. The monks went into exile in Italy. In 1922, the Benedictines of Hautecombe Abbey in Savoy ensured a permanent presence with one or two monks at Ganagobie. From 1953 to 1992, various works followed one another: the opening of a tarmac road to the priory, followed by the raising of the transept of the church, the restoration of medieval mosaics discovered in 1898 and the discovery of an abbey church and a necropolis dating from the 9th century, and finally the extension of the monastery. At the end of these achievements, the Hautecombe community left Savoy to settle in Ganagobie. The times of the services are useful for organising your stay: vigils at 5am, Lauds at 7am, mass at 9am (10am on Sundays and feasts), Sext at 12pm, Ninth at 1.45pm, Vespers at 5.30pm, Compline at 8.15pm. The abbey has 13 rooms, 4 of which have 2 beds, and 2 outside rooms for pilgrims. Groups of young people are welcomed in two houses in the hamlet of the school, managed independently. At the entrance to the monastery there is a well-stocked shop selling various products from several monasteries, soft drinks, a nice religious bookshop, and CDs of religious songs. The monks themselves produce olive oil, jams and jellies of various fruits, honey scented with lavender, acacia and flowers of Provence.