Melleray Abbey

Daughter monasteries

No pre-1795, since 1817 Mount Melleray Abbey ( Ireland) 1832 New Melleray Abbey with daughters (Iowa, USA) and Mount Saint Joseph Abbey ( Ireland) Mount St Bernard Abbey ( England) 1835 Gethsemani Abbey ( USA) 1841

The monastery of Melleray ( Mellerium, Notre -Dame de Melleray ) is a former Cistercian abbey and since 1817 a Trappist monastery in the municipality of La Meilleraye -de -Bretagne in the department of Loire -Atlantique, Pays de la Loire in France, around 21 kilometers south of Châteaubriant at the edge of the forest of Ancenis.

History

The monastery was founded in 1145 by Fulk, Abbot of the Monastery Pontron, a subsidiary of Abbey Le Loroux on gestiftetem by Alain de Moisdon terrain and thus belonged to the filiation of the monastery of Citeaux. It was a rich equipment of the Lords of Rougé, the barons of Ancenis and Châteaubriant and Duchess Constance of Brittany. The church was built to 1183. 1544 was a small convent in Upcoming. 1664 joined the Abbey of Strict Observance. In the 17th and 18th centuries were made restorations. The history of the monastery was apart from the time of the religious wars of the 16th century unusually peaceful. 1790 was one of seven monks. After the closure of the monasteries during the French Revolution, the monastery continued to exist until 1795. 1817 was settled by a group of Trappist monks from Lulworth in England again, who introduced new farming methods. 1831, the monastery was dissolved again, but the monastic life could be reintroduced in 1837. As a consequence, medieval buildings were largely the enlargement of the monastery to the victim. The still existing Trappist get more child -ups.

Buildings and plant

The church, consecrated in 1183 in the form of a Latin cross with shallow chancel and square pillars that carry ogival open aisle arcades was in 1948 restored to its original state. Facade and porch date from the 15th century.