Les Antonins de Pondaurat

Pondaurat

The Antonine commanderies settled on the roads, at the river crossings, where a hospital could be kept and a toll levied. Pondaurat is the clearest example. At the end of the 13th century, canons of the order of St Anthony established themselves on the bank of the Bassanne, on the route leading from Limoges to Compostela by way of Périgueux and Bazas. There they built a church, a monastery, a presbytery, a mill, and fortified the whole around a bridge from which they drew the toll: pilgrims found there lodging and care, the ardents a house where they knew how to receive them. The church of Saint-Antoine, of the 13th century, has kept its dedication and its nave; the monastery and the mill, still standing, have changed their use — wine is made in one, the other is lived in. The Order of Malta inherited the whole in 1777 and lost it at the Revolution, when the property was sold as national property. There remains, in this village of few inhabitants, a complete ensemble of Antonine buildings, which is rare: elsewhere, only the church or only the name is left.

Wikipédia — Monastère des Antonins et moulin de Pondaurat ↗

Getting there : By the D 12 from La Réole in the direction of Savignac; the road runs through the village and one parks near the church. The church of Saint-Antoine, communal property, is open for worship and for visits. The monastery has become a wine estate and the mill a private house: they are private and cannot be visited, but the whole is very clearly seen from the bridge over the Bassanne, from which one takes in at a glance the church, the south front of the monastery and the windows of the presbytery.

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

Ambient sound