Abbaye Saint-Vigor de Cerisy-la-Forêt

Cerisy-la-Forêt

Vigor, bishop of Bayeux in the 6th century, is said to have received from a local lord the land of Cerisy and to have built there, around 510, a hermitage dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul: that is the tradition, and nothing more. What is certain is the charter of 1032 by which Robert the Magnificent, duke for five years, founded there an abbey of men — an abbot was in office from 1030 — three years before leaving for Jerusalem, from which he would not return. His son William held the house as his own: work on the great church began with the chevet around 1068–1072, in the years when the duke had become king, and was completed after his death. This chevet is unique: three tiers of superimposed windows, opening up the apse over its whole height, beneath a later vault; it lights a deep choir, a crossing capped by a lantern tower, and what remains of the nave. For in 1811, the parish council, unable to maintain a vessel too large for the parish, had the first four Romanesque bays, one Gothic bay and the porch pulled down: the present church is a fragment, and it is still one of the largest Romanesque buildings in Normandy. Of the abbey there survive the abbot's chapel, of the 13th century, with 15th-century paintings, and farm buildings. Here one understands better than anywhere what the dukes wanted: light and height.

Wikipédia — Abbaye de Cerisy-la-Forêt ↗

Getting there : By the D 572 between Saint-Lô and Bayeux, then the D 8; park at the bottom of the church. The abbey church is parochial and freely open during the day. The abbey parts — abbot's chapel, hall of justice, lapidary museum — can be visited, for a fee, from April to September, through the association that runs the site, with guided tours on certain days; hours change with the season. Allow an hour, more if you go on into the forest.

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

Ambient sound