Loc-Dieu Abbey

Daughter monasteries

No

The Monastery Loc -Dieu ( Locus Dei ) is a former Cistercian abbey in the town of Martiel in Aveyron, Midi- Pyrénées, France. The monastery is located about 9 km west from Villefranche -de- Rouergue on the border of historic landscapes Rouergue and Quercy in one place earlier than locus designated devil.

History

The monastery was founded in 1123 by the Benedictine rule of the monastery Dalon with which it is in 1162 in the filiation of primary Pontigny Abbey joined the Cistercian Order. But before that had gone out of Loc -Dieu, the foundation of the monastery Les Chambon, but this was assumed Sénanque. First, the convent building was begun with the construction, first in 1159 with the church. The work was hampered by financial difficulties that were overcome by the support of the monasteries Bonneval and Pontigny, and by the Albigensian crusade. The monastery church was consecrated in 1189. On the basis of allocations, the monastery was the opposite it grange and other Gran Gien (L' Albenque, le Merlet; Marinesques ) build and domain Fontaynous and some land Farming on the Causse du Larzac. The Hundred Years' War, the monastery was occupied, looted and set fire to finally 1411, but the church does not seem to have been damaged. Cloister, chapter house and convent buildings were constructed from 1430 to 1470 with funds from the families Volonzac and Firminhac again. In addition, the abbey was fortified. The number of monks fell 12-20 to the 15th century except for three in the 18th century. In the French Revolution the monastery, which was in poor condition, was dissolved and subsequently sold. As a result, it was used as a farm and as a stable. In 1812 it was sold to the family Cibiel from Villefranche who perform from 1840 to extensive repair work and parts of the building in the Louis Philippe style and renew novelty left. The monumental entrance hall was designed by the architect Paul Gout. 1940 paintings were moved from the Louvre in Paris in the former Abbey unsuitable for this purpose.

Buildings and plant

The rib-vaulted, in their structure but still Romanesque church whose architecture is influenced by Pontigny and the Gothic as the earliest church of the region is known, has a twenty meter high nave with ten windows in the arcades and narrow aisles and a transept with four straight closed chapels. The crossing is surmounted by a square tower with pyramidal roof and twin windows. The Ostabschluss with five windows terminating in a pentagonal apse closed. The facade has an arched portal and a tall, narrow windows. The choir has come to Villefranche. The 1470 finished, south adjoining the church cloister is preserved to the north wing. Above him is a closed gallery with echoes of the Renaissance architecture. The vaults of the large chapter room are supported by two central columns. The plant was classified overall in 1989 as a monument historique.

View from the East