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Origin and history

The Saint-Vigor Abbey of Cerisy-la-Forêt, located in the Manche in Normandy, is founded in 1032 by Duke Robert the Magnificent on the remains of a 6th century Merovingian monastery. It became a major economic and spiritual centre, endowed with vast lands and royal privileges, and adopted the Benedictine rule. Its Romanesque abbey, inspired by Saint-Étienne de Caen, was built between 1040 and 1087, with Gothic additions in the 13th and 15th centuries.

The monks clear the surrounding forest and build ponds to drain the swamps, while developing a network of monastic barns. The abbey, classified "royal", welcomes kings of France and intellectuals, and has up to 48 parishes and 8 priories, two of which are in England. Its peak is in the 12th and 13th centuries, before a decline marked by the Hundred Years' War and looting.

After the Revolution, the abbey was sold as a national property: part of the buildings was destroyed, but the abbey became the parish church. Ranked a historic monument in 1840, it preserves unique Romanesque elements, such as its three-leveled bedside. Today, only the truncated abbey, the chapel Saint-Gerbold (13th century) and some agricultural buildings remain.

The abbey was a key economic player thanks to its lands, mills and vineyards, managed by a "prosecutor-union". His income, higher than that of Mont-Saint-Michel, came from tithes and rents. The monks also developed a sophisticated hydraulic system, combining sewers, tanks and tanks, still partially visible today.

The foundation of the abbey is linked to the legend of Saint Vigor, evangelizer of Bessin in the 6th century, who would have buried a "horrible serpent" (pagan symbol). Relics from Jerusalem by Robert the Magnificent in 1034 reinforce his prestige. In the 15th century, the abbey was fortified during the Hundred Years' War, and then began in the 16th century, losing its autonomy.

The revolutionary destructions spared the chapel Saint-Gerbold, founded in the 13th century thanks to a gift from Saint Louis. Its vaults bear the arms of the Capetians and Dukes of Normandy. Since 1939, an association has been working to preserve it, organizing concerts and exhibitions in this site full of history, surrounded by ponds and a sculpture park.

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