Abbatiale de la Sainte-Trinité de Fécamp

Fécamp

Founded around 658, ruined by the Vikings and then raised again by the first Norman dukes, the abbey of Fécamp became in 1001, under William of Volpiano, the great centre of monastic reform in Normandy, playing in the duchy a role comparable to that of Cluny in the kingdom. The present abbey church, rebuilt after the fire of 1168, reaches 127 metres in length and rivals the cathedrals; it housed the necropolis of the first dukes. Its fame rests above all on the relic of the Precious Blood: the blood gathered at the foot of the cross is said to have been entrusted by Nicodemus to his nephew Isaac, who cast it into the sea sealed inside the trunk of a fig tree, which drifted ashore on the beach of the Pays de Caux. This fig-tree version appears only in the early 12th century, through folk etymology on the name of Fécamp, and replaces an older story of a boat come from Lucca: here the legend can be watched in the making, which makes it a textbook case. The church also keeps the stone of the "Pas-de-l'Ange": at the dedication of the earlier sanctuary, around 938–943, an old man dressed in white is said to have laid on the altar a knife and a message consecrating the place to the Holy Trinity, before vanishing and leaving his footprint in the stone. The first accounts of miracles and pilgrimages date from the late 12th century; devotion enjoyed a strong revival under the Second Empire, and the confraternity of the Precious Blood was officially recognised in 1906. The pilgrimage of the Precious Blood, traditionally held around Trinity Sunday, is still celebrated at Fécamp.

Patrimoine-Histoire — L'abbatiale de la Trinité de Fécamp ↗

Getting there : Place des Ducs Richard, in the very centre of Fécamp, 10 minutes' walk from the railway station and the harbour. Free admission during opening hours; the tabernacle of the Precious Blood is behind the high altar, and the stone known as the Pas-de-l'Ange is displayed in the ambulatory.

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

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