Abbaye royale Notre-Dame de Celles-sur-Belle

Celles-sur-Belle

The sanctuary's own tradition dates the first pilgrimage to the year 507: Clovis himself is said to have come to give thanks to the Virgin after his victory over the Visigoths at Vouillé. Documented history begins with a priory raised to the rank of abbey in 1140 by the bishop of Poitiers, around which the town grew up — Celles comes from "cella", the hermitage. From 1395, the records mention the "Septembresche", the great September pilgrimage that drew the crowds of Poitou to Notre-Dame de Celles. The most fervent of its pilgrims was a king: Louis XI, passionately devoted to the Virgin, came several times to kneel here and showered the abbey with his generosity, making possible its Gothic reconstruction after the Hundred Years' War. Ravaged by the Protestants in 1568, it rose a second time: from 1668, the architect François Leduc, known as Toscane, rebuilt the abbey church in a deliberately archaic Gothic of strikingly pure lines, behind the Romanesque portal with its Eastern-looking arch mouldings, preserved beneath the porch tower. The statue of Notre-Dame de Celles was crowned in 1926, and every year, from 8 to 10 September, the Septembresche still gathers the pilgrims — fifteen centuries of walking towards the same hill in the valley of the Belle, between cloister, gardens and restored great organ.

Getting there : Centre of Celles-sur-Belle (15 place des Époux-Laurant, 79370), south of Niort. Coordinates given for the village (the abbey church is in the centre). Abbey church open to visitors; abbey buildings and gardens can be visited; pilgrimage on 8–10 September.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound