Abbaye Saint-Colomban de Luxeuil

Luxeuil-les-Bains

Around 585–590, the Irish monk Columbanus, who had landed in Gaul with twelve companions, founded on the ancient ruins of Luxovium one of the most influential monasteries of the early Middle Ages. His austere rule drew hundreds of monks, but his outspokenness about the morals of King Theuderic II and Queen Brunhilda got him expelled in 610; he would end his days at Bobbio, in Italy. Under his successors Saint Eustace and then Saint Waldebert, Luxeuil became a nursery of bishops and founders of abbeys; its scriptorium, active from the mid-7th century, gave birth to the famous "Luxeuil minuscule", one of the earliest calligraphic scripts. In 731–732 the Saracens seized the town and massacred most of the community, which nonetheless rose again. The abbey lived on until the Revolution, which suppressed it in 1789. What survives is the Gothic basilica of Saint-Pierre, the cloister of pink sandstone, the conventual buildings — listed since 1862 — and, beneath the neighbouring square, the exceptional Merovingian burial site with its dozens of sarcophagi, displayed at the Ecclesia centre. The memory of Columbanus, whose hermit's cave is venerated a few kilometres away, still pervades the town.

Getting there : Heart of Luxeuil-les-Bains, basilica of Saint-Pierre open during the day; Ecclesia archaeological centre a stone's throw away, place de la République; car parks in the town centre

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

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