1000 years of history

The Royal Abbey of Fontevraud was founded in 1101 by Robert d'Arbrissel, an itinerant preacher from the small village of Arbrissel, in Bretagne. He settled in Fontevraud with the support of the bishop of Poitiers, Pierre II. His community had the distinction of being mixed and followed the rule of Saint Benedict. The founder decided to entrust the direction of the Royal Abbey and the order to a woman, Pétronille de Chemillé. Thus, Pétronille became the first abbess of the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud and was succeeded by a total of 35 women, many among them from France's royal family.

Being the largest monastic city in Europe, Fontevraud features four monasteries, three of which for women and one for men. Being under the protection of the era's powerful, especially of the Plantagenêt, the Royal Abbey grew very quickly and soon hosted up to 700 nuns and monks. The fontevriste order also developed abroad, establishing priories in Spain and England.

Still, the Revolution got the better of the monastic order and in 1791 the State became the owner of the Royal Abbey and took inventory of its goods. The religious people were finally driven out in 1792; looting began the following year.

In 1804, Fontevraud reached a turning point as it was transformed into a prison by Napoleonic decree. The transition required 10 years of changes, the time needed to build the various workshops, before the first prisoners - men, women and children - finally arrived in 1814. In 1850, the women were transferred to the prison in Rennes and the children to Roiffé.

The prisoners carried out sentences of forced labor: textile work, weaving, chair making, cabinetry, handling and carding of raw wool, pearl button and slipper manufacturing... prisoners worked from 8h to 11h30, and then from 14h to 17h30. Silence was fully enforced, the only words allowed being the ones relating to the tasks.

There were also the "unoccupied", prisoners that were unable to work because they were too old, sick, crippled or mentally ill... They remained seated on benches and listened to a prisoner reading, or walked around in an exercise yard at the pace set by a provost.

The prison finally closed its doors in 1963, though the prisoners remained in the Royal Abbey until 1985.

As no religious community was able to revive the Royal Abbey, the Cultural Center for the West was founded in 1975 by Olivier Guichard, president of the regional council of the Pays de la Loire. The objective of this recognized charity organization was the "protection, development, livelihood and promotion of the Abbey of Fontevraud".

Opening its doors to the public required many decades of restoration work, in which participated the last prisoners.

Today, the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud is open to everyone. It is both a historical monument which combines traditional visits with innovations through the numerous digital devices found in its halls, a cultural center hosting concerts, expositions and symposiums, a gastronomic restaurant, a four-star hotel, as well as an environment protection area.