Forgotten historical monastery in the south of france

the courtyard

Hidden in the woods of a historic castle grounds I found this beautiful decorated marble cloister with its small chapel. The castle and monastery are abandoned for many years, neglected and overtaken by nature. But what is this old convent doing in the garden of this lost and forgotten castle? The architectural style and construction period are so different. This al made me so curious to explore the place. 

old abandoned cloister

The castle  

renovation works were once started at the castle but these were never completed.  This makes this building inside a large construction site, all the historical elements and ornaments have disappeared. the moment we wanted to leave the castle I saw a closed door and wanted to see what was behind it.

“What a discovery” 

In this disappointing building with brick walls and concrete floors there was one room still original. I was perplexed by the beauty. Hidden after that one door was a dark room with a historical library, 

chock full of sculptures, old religious ornaments and even paintings. This room was one of the most special places I have discovered. 

The old convent 

Nevertheless the main reason I wanted to visit this castle grounds was the beautiful gothic monastery. Now hidden on the domain overgrown by planting and falling into decline. Although the beauty is so astonishing, the atmosphere was very peaceful and serene. We walked inside and came into the courtyard, this had beautifully decorated marble columns. 

the monastary in decay

 Furthermore there was a orangery with desiccated olive trees, a lovely little chapel and the atrium. Next to this atrium there was also an empty room, here I didn’t take photos. But now by writing this blog I discovered what this room was: the cabinet of the poet. The owner of this domain was a famous French writer in the 19the century, so this was the place where he got inspiration. The room had 3 windows and one had a nice view of the French countryside.

History 

the monastery was not originally built here, but moved to serve as a garden sculpture in the romantically decorated garden. In 1837 the France poet bought this old convent that was original from Limoges to rebuild it on the domain of his summer residence. This was something popular to do under the France academics in that time. The construction of this monastery dates from 1332-1341 but the reconstruction on the castle grounds is not done according to the original layout. Several adjustments have been made. The rebuild required 3 years of work. The castle was abandoned in 1983 and has not been inhabited since.

the chapel
forgotten convent France lost

I hoped you like reading about this beautiful convent, if you have more questions comment below 

8 comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

8 comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: Content is protected !!