Abbaye de Prémontré

Prémontré

In a clearing of the former forest of Voas, near Saint-Gobain, one of the great currents of medieval monastic reform was born in 1120: the abbey of Prémontré, founded by the German canon Norbert of Xanten. Having come to preach evangelical poverty after a conversion as sudden as the biblical story of the road to Damascus, Norbert obtained from the bishop of Laon, Barthélemy de Jur, a plot at the place called "Presmontré". Two years later, in 1122, the bishops of Laon and Soissons consecrated the first church of an order destined to spread throughout Europe: the canons regular of Prémontré, or Norbertines, combining the contemplative life with pastoral duties. For centuries the mother abbey thus presided over a network of several hundred daughter houses, from Ireland to Poland. Secularised at the Revolution, it met an unexpected fate: bought in 1803 by the Deviolaine family, it first housed a glassworks producing champagne bottles, before becoming the departmental psychiatric hospital from 1861. The present buildings, largely rebuilt in the 18th century with their remarkable staircase suspended on a vault, bear witness to a rare continuity: for nine hundred years, this wooded valley of the Thiérache has never ceased to shelter prayer, care or contemplation.

Getting there : Village of Prémontré, Aisne; surroundings and park freely visible; buildings open during organised visits and the Journées du Patrimoine heritage open days (a working healthcare establishment)

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

Ambient sound