Abbaye Sainte-Trinité de la Lucerne

La Lucerne-d'Outremer

Founded in 1143 by Hasculphe de Subligny and his brother Richard, bishop of Avranches, who consecrated the first church on 18 October 1145, the abbey of Premonstratensian canons settled for good in 1162 at the place called la Luzerne, in the wooded valley of the Thar, on the borders of the Cotentin and the Avranchin. The abbey church, raised from 1164 to 1178, unites a plan of Cistercian austerity — Latin cross, flat east end — with a sober Norman facade devoid of towers, true to the Premonstratensian spirit; its square lantern tower, restored around 1400, is a model of Anglo-Norman Gothic. Mother house of four abbeys in Normandy and Brittany, La Lucerne came through the devastation of the Hundred Years' War before being closed at the Revolution (1790) and sold as national property. Listed as a monument historique in 1928, it owes its resurrection to Abbé Marcel Lelégard (1925–1994), who bought it in 1959 and launched an exemplary restoration that continues to this day: cloister, Romanesque lavabo, refectory, bakehouse and dovecote live again, and the site hosts concerts and medieval re-enactments.

Getting there : 50320 La Lucerne-d'Outremer, in the Thar valley west of the village, between Granville and Avranches; private site open to visitors (guided tours available), parking on site. Viking and Norman village of Saint-Olaf on the last weekend of July.

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

Ambient sound