Marchiennes Abbey was a French monastery located on the Scarpe in Marchiennes

Marchiennes

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It was founded around 630 by Adalbaud, duc de Douai, and Irish monks, disciples of saint Columbanus

Columbanus

Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.He spread among the...

, on the advice of Saint Amand

Saint Amand

Saint Amand or Amandus was a French Christian saint, one of the great Christian Saints of Flanders.-Biography:...

. One of its founders was Rictrude

Rictrude

Rictrude was abbess of Marchiennes Abbey, in Flanders. The main early source for her life is the Vita Rictrudis of Hucbald, commissioned by the abbey, and written in 907 by Hucbald.....

, who made it double monastery

Double monastery

A double monastery is an institution combining a separate monastery for monks and an abbey for nuns. Examples include Coldingham Monastery in Scotland, and Einsiedeln Abbey and Fahr Abbey in Switzerland, controlled by the abbot of Einsiedeln...

 in 643. In around 1024 it became monastery of men again and adopted the Benedictine rule. On the birth of the town of Marchiennes the abbey became its economic motor until being suppressed in 1791 during the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. In 1814 all but its 1748 gatehouse was demolished.

Its remains were inscribed on the inventory of monuments historiques on 17 May 1974,