Abbaye Notre-Dame de l'Ouÿe

Les Granges-le-Roi

The foundation legend lies entirely in the name. King Louis VII, hunting in the immense forest that then covered the Hurepoix, loses his way and finds himself separated from his companions. Lost in the middle of the woods, he calls out; against all hope, his men hear him and come to his rescue. In thanksgiving for this providential deliverance, the king decides to raise a chapel in the clearing where he was found and names it Notre-Dame de l'Ouÿe — Our Lady of Hearing, she who heard. The tradition takes concrete form in 1163: by charter, Louis VII the Young gives the estate to the monks of Grandmont, one of the most austere eremitical orders in Christendom, and sends seven religious there. The "bonshommes" of l'Ouÿe had an eventful history: a prior was murdered in 1385, and in 1493 an epidemic carried off the entire community. In 1770, Benedictine nuns succeeded the Grandmontines and turned the place into a home for ladies of the nobility; Ursulines bought the abbey in 1945, before the diocese of Paris made it, in 2015, a centre of spiritual renewal for young people. Eight and a half centuries after the royal hunt, people still come here to listen, in the silence of a clearing that the forest of Dourdan has never given back to the world.

Getting there : Route de l'Ouÿe, 91410 Les Granges-le-Roi, deep in the forest of Dourdan; private estate (retreat centre of the diocese of Paris), no unaccompanied visits, but the surroundings can be explored along the forest tracks; RER C station at Dourdan about 4 km away. Sourced coordinates (Essonne Tourisme).

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

Ambient sound