The Lucerne d’Outremer Abbey, nestled in the Thar valley in Normandy since the 12th century, presents an architectural ensemble of great beauty, a stone’s throw from Granville.
Former foundation of the Order of Prémonté (or Norbertin – because founded by Norbert de Xanten), the Lucerne d’Outremer Abbey is governed by a double mission: the apostolate, that is to say action with the people within the parish, and the divine office with the life of the monks within the abbey.
Restored in the 15th and 17th centuries, the Lucerne d’Outremer Abbey is sold, like so many other religious buildings, as national property during the French Revolution and is soon transformed into a cotton spinning mill and then into a stone sawmill. Both businesses collapse, leading to the ruin of the various buildings of the Abbey.
The Lucerne d’Outremer Abbey is surprisingly saved by a TV game show.
Father Lélegard, who acquires the Abbey in 1959, takes part the following year in the TV game show “La Roue Tourne” (“”the wheel turns”), hosted by the famous French TV presenter Guy Lux.
And as a matter of fact, the wheel turns: the abbot wins a car, brings the famous TV presenter to the Abbey, sells the car during an auction and undertakes, with this money falling from the sky, the restoration of the Abbey, which has continued to be restored since, thanks to the Foundation of the Lucerne d’Outremer Abbey.
The West Gate or Trinity Gate is the main access to the Abbey. The building dates from the 12th century but was restored in the 15th century
The abbey church has a transitional style, still Romanesque in its proportions and its powerful tower, already Gothic in the design of its openings, the immense glass of its apse, characteristic of medieval Premonstratensian architecture
Entrance to the capitulary house
The East monastic building
The long aqueduc with its larges arcades was part of a complex hydaulic system built in 1799 by Louis Gallien, a Granville based trader when he purchased the Abbey domain to set up a coton factory there
The East gate, rebuilt in the 18th century is one of the four similar oriented gates
The old grain mill
The quarters of the Abbey abbots date from the end of the 17th – beginning of the 18th century
The dovecote is a round tower crowned with a vault with a central oculus. To avoid predators and bad weather, this dome was covered by a conical roof. The pigeons were coming out through the roof. Excavation of the soil made it possible to harvest columbine used as fertilizer. The dovecote has between 1,500 and 1,700 holes that can accommodate up to 3,000 pigeons
Classified as a French Historic Monument, the Lucerne d’Outremer Abbey presents a refined, pastoral and absolutely charming ensemble.
August 2, 2024
