Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine

Bégrolles-en-Mauges

A Benedictine priory existed here in the 11th century, and an abbey around 1120. In 1790 only four religious remained. The abbey was sold as national property on 27 May 1791. On 4 May 1816, dom Urbain Guillet, a Trappist returned from America, bought back the first buildings and installed monks there. By 1817 there were about fifteen of them; around 1870, a hundred. Rome raised Bellefontaine to the rank of abbey on 26 September 1828. Abbot Jean-Marie Chouteau had the guesthouse rebuilt in 1876 and the church in 1879. The monks founded Oka, in Canada, in 1881, and were expelled for five weeks in 1880 by the decrees of the Republic. On 13 November 2025, the last thirteen Trappists left the abbey, their ageing community no longer able to maintain it. On 11 July 2026, twelve Benedictines from Le Barroux settled there, in the presence of the former monks.

OCSO — Abbaye de Bellefontaine ↗

Getting there: South-west of Cholet, by the D752 then Bégrolles-en-Mauges; church and shop open, monastic guesthouse; the Benedictines of Le Barroux have lived there since July 2026, check the times of services.

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

Ambient sound