Sénanque Abbey
Encyclopedia
Sénanque Abbey is a Cistercian abbey
near the village of Gordes
in the département of the Vaucluse
in Provence
, France
.
, Count of Provence, by Cistercian monks who came from Mazan Abbey
in the Ardèche
. Temporary huts housed the first community of impoverished monks. By 1152 the community already had so many members that Sénanque was able to found Chambons Abbey, in the diocese of Viviers.
The young community found patrons in the seigneurs
of Simiane
, whose support enabled them to build the abbey church, consecrated in 1178. Other structures at Sénanque followed, laid out according to the rule of Cîteaux Abbey
, mother house of the Cistercians. Among its existing structures, famed examples of Romanesque architecture
, are the abbey church, cloister
, dormitory, chapter house
and the small calefactory, the one heated space in the austere surroundings, so that the monks could write, for this was their scriptorium
. A refectory
was added in the 17th century, when some minimal rebuilding of existing walls was undertaken, but the abbey is a remarkably untouched survival, of rare beauty and severity: the capitals
of the paired columns in the cloister arcades
are reduced to the simplest leaf forms, not to offer sensual distraction.
The abbey church is in the form of a tau cross with an apse
projecting beyond the abbey's outer walls. Somewhat unusually, its liturgical east end faces north, as the narrow and secluded valley offered no space for the conventional arrangement.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Sénanque reached its apogee, operating four mills, seven granges and possessing large estates in Provence
. In 1509, when the first abbot in commendam was named, a sure sign of the decline of vocation, the community at Sénanque had shrunk to about a dozen. During the Wars of Religion
the quarters for the lay brothers were destroyed and the abbey was ransacked by Huguenot
s. At the French Revolution
the abbey's lands were nationalized, the one remaining monk was expelled and Sénanque itself was sold to a private individual.
The site was repurchased in 1854 for a new community of Cistercian monks of the Immaculate Conception, under a rule less stringent than that of the Trappists
. The community was expelled in 1903 and departed to the Order's headquarters, Lérins Abbey
on the island of St. Honorat, near Cannes
. A small community returned in 1988 as a priory
of Lérins.
The monk
s who live at Sénanque grow lavender
(visible in front of the abbey, illustration, right) and tend honey bees for their livelihood.
It is possible for individuals to arrange to stay at the abbey for spiritual retreat.
Two other early Cistercian abbeys in Provence are Silvacane Abbey
and Le Thoronet Abbey
; with Sénanque, they are sometimes referred to as the "Three Sisters of Provence" ("les trois soeurs provençales").
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
near the village of Gordes
Gordes
Gordes is a commune in the Vaucluse département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.The residents are known as Gordiens...
in the département of the Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
First foundation
It was founded in 1148 under the patronage of Alfant, bishop of Cavaillon, and Ramon Berenguer II, Count of BarcelonaRamon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer II the Towhead or Cap de estopes was Count of Barcelona from 1076 until his death...
, Count of Provence, by Cistercian monks who came from Mazan Abbey
Mazan Abbey
Mazan Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in the village of Mazan-l'Abbaye in the département of the Ardèche in the region of Rhône-Alpes, France....
in the Ardèche
Ardèche
Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...
. Temporary huts housed the first community of impoverished monks. By 1152 the community already had so many members that Sénanque was able to found Chambons Abbey, in the diocese of Viviers.
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of Simiane
Simiane-la-Rotonde
Simiane-la-Rotonde is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.-Population:-References:*...
, whose support enabled them to build the abbey church, consecrated in 1178. Other structures at Sénanque followed, laid out according to the rule of Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance . The Cistercian order takes its name from this mother house of Cîteaux, earlier Cisteaux, near Nuits-Saint-Georges...
, mother house of the Cistercians. Among its existing structures, famed examples of Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
, are the abbey church, cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
, dormitory, chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
and the small calefactory, the one heated space in the austere surroundings, so that the monks could write, for this was their scriptorium
Scriptorium
Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...
. A refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
was added in the 17th century, when some minimal rebuilding of existing walls was undertaken, but the abbey is a remarkably untouched survival, of rare beauty and severity: the capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
of the paired columns in the cloister arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
are reduced to the simplest leaf forms, not to offer sensual distraction.
The abbey church is in the form of a tau cross with an apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
projecting beyond the abbey's outer walls. Somewhat unusually, its liturgical east end faces north, as the narrow and secluded valley offered no space for the conventional arrangement.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Sénanque reached its apogee, operating four mills, seven granges and possessing large estates in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
. In 1509, when the first abbot in commendam was named, a sure sign of the decline of vocation, the community at Sénanque had shrunk to about a dozen. During the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
the quarters for the lay brothers were destroyed and the abbey was ransacked by Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s. At 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...
the abbey's lands were nationalized, the one remaining monk was expelled and Sénanque itself was sold to a private individual.
Second foundation
Trappists
The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance , or Trappists, is a Roman Catholic religious order of cloistered contemplative monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict...
. The community was expelled in 1903 and departed to the Order's headquarters, Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....
on the island of St. Honorat, near Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
. A small community returned in 1988 as a priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
of Lérins.
The monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s who live at Sénanque grow lavender
Lavender
The lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India...
(visible in front of the abbey, illustration, right) and tend honey bees for their livelihood.
It is possible for individuals to arrange to stay at the abbey for spiritual retreat.
Two other early Cistercian abbeys in Provence are Silvacane Abbey
Silvacane Abbey
Silvacane Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in the municipality of La Roque-d'Anthéron, Bouches-du-Rhône, in Provence, France. It was founded in or around 1144 as a daughter house of Morimond Abbey and was dissolved in 1443; it ceased to be an ecclesiastical property in the French Revolution...
and Le Thoronet Abbey
Le Thoronet Abbey
Le Thoronet Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey built in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century, now restored as a museum. It is sited between the towns of Draguignan and Brignoles in the Var Department of Provence, in southeast France...
; with Sénanque, they are sometimes referred to as the "Three Sisters of Provence" ("les trois soeurs provençales").