Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The abbey of Villeneuve is a former Cistercian abbey founded in 1201 by Constance, Duchess of Brittany, on lands originally dependent on the abbey of Buzay. His body was temporarily placed in an oratory in September 1201 before the abbey church was consecrated on 25 October 1223. The building then houses the burials of Constance, her husband Guy de Thouars († 1213), and their daughter Alix († 1221), as well as other members of the Breton nobility related to the Thouars and Machecoul dynasty.

The abbey experienced a gradual decline, especially during the French Revolution, where it was partially destroyed, its desecrated graves and its scattered ashes. Sold as a national good, it housed more than six monks at that time. After a post-Second World War abandonment, it was restored in 1977. The current buildings, dating from the early eighteenth century, now house a hotel and gastronomic complex, frequented by personalities such as the Dalai Lama in 2008.

Located in the Nantes country, on the historical border between Brittany and the Pays de la Loire, the Abbey illustrates the close links between the power of the Breton ducal and the Cistercian order. Its architecture and history also reflect the religious and political upheavals, from its medieval foundation to its contemporary reconversion. The municipality of Sorinières, created in 1865 by dismemberment of neighbouring territories, perpetuates this heritage through its municipal site and its tourist offer.

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