Abbaye Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé

Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in the town of Quimperlé, in the French department of Finistère, within the Brittany region. According to popular tradition, it was founded in 1029 by Saint Gurloës, thanks to a donation from Alain Canhiart, Count of Cornouaille; in reality, the foundation probably took place between 1040 and 1050. It was one of Brittany's most powerful abbeys, with numerous priories and other outbuildings. Placed under the commende regime in 1553, the abbey declined somewhat, until it was taken over by the Congregation of Saint Maur in 1665. The abbey was closed during the French Revolution. It had a large library, rich in ancient and precious manuscripts; this literary treasure was then looted and scattered. Only the Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé cartulary was saved from destruction by Le Guillou, a Quimperlé doctor. The abbey church became a parish church, and the conventual buildings were transformed into public buildings, housing the district court and the gendarmerie barracks. The church was listed as a historic monument in 1840, and the cloister in 1926. However, the bell tower built on top of the rotunda by the Mauristes weakened the latter, and restoration work was unable to prevent its collapse on March 21, 1862, at noon. In its fall, it destroyed most of the church, leaving only the monks' choir and the crypt below int

Monastery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).