Abbaye Saint-Jean-des-Vignes

Soissons

From afar, one seems to see a cathedral: two Gothic spires of 70 and 75 metres, pierced like lace, tower over Soissons. On approaching, the surprise takes hold — behind the facade there is nothing. Sky and grass. The abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes was founded in 1076 by the lord Hugues le Blanc for canons following the Rule of Saint Augustine. In the 13th century, under Abbot Raoul de Chézy, it numbered 90 canons and 43 parishes, and an abbey church rebuilt in the purest Gothic, completed by this two-towered facade, among the tallest in the kingdom. Plundered by the Huguenots in 1567 and closed at the Revolution, the church met a singular fate: from 1805 it was methodically dismantled, its stones serving as a quarry to restore the neighbouring cathedral and the buildings of the town. For twenty years the nave vanished bay by bay — but faced with the distress of the inhabitants, and as voices such as Victor Hugo's were raised against the vandalism, the facade and its spires were spared. There remain too the great 13th-century cloister, the refectory with its slender columns and the gatehouse. Now the emblem of Soissons, the ghost facade today houses the heritage interpretation centre: no place tells better of monastic grandeur and the fragility of stone.

Getting there : Rue Saint-Jean, on the rise south of the centre of Soissons; parking nearby. Site open (Cité de la musique et de la danse, CIAP architecture and heritage centre); cloisters and refectory can be visited.

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

Ambient sound