Abbaye du Parc-aux-Dames

Trumilly

Heir to an 11th-century foundation by the counts of Vermandois, the abbey was refounded in 1205 by Eleanor of Vermandois, daughter of the powerful Count Raoul, then consecrated in 1207 by Guérin, Bishop of Senlis. Richly endowed throughout the region, it became one of the great houses of Cistercian nuns in the Valois and even received a visit from King Saint Louis in 1235. But the Hundred Years' War struck the Parc-aux-Dames hard: English troops set fire to the church and the conventual buildings, causing a famine so severe that the community was for a time reduced to a single surviving nun. The abbey recovered as best it could, before being sold as national property at the Revolution and then largely demolished. All that survives today is a chapel formed from a portion of the south transept, with its canted walls and rib vaults of elegant Cistercian sobriety, together with fine cellars of the early 13th century. Enclosed within a private property between Trumilly and Auger-Saint-Vincent, these unobtrusive remains tell eight centuries of women's history, between royal prosperity and the ravages of war.

Getting there : Between the communes of Trumilly and Auger-Saint-Vincent, south of Compiègne (Oise)

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

Ambient sound