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Abbaye de la Bourdillière à Genillé en Indre-et-Loire

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine religieux
Abbaye
Indre-et-Loire

Abbaye de la Bourdillière

    Le Bourg
    37460 Genillé
Private property
Crédit photo : Arcyon37 - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1400-1499
Construction of the seigneurial house
1622
Foundation of the Priory
1688
Erection in royal abbey
1770
Closure of the Abbey
1791
Sale as a national good
1951
Registration for historical monuments
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Fronts and roofs: inscription by decree of 27 November 1951

Key figures

Louis de Menou - Founder of the Abbey Purchase the estate in 1662.
Claude de Menou - First perpetual Prioress Elder sister of the founder.
Catherine II de Menou - Abbesse for 20 years Rule until 1734.
Charles de Menou d'Aulnay - Governor of Acadia Father of three nuns.
Franc-Nohain - Owner (1939-1963) French writer and comedian.

Origin and history

The abbey of the Bourdillière, located in Genillé in Indre-et-Loire, was founded in 1622 by Louis de Menou as a Cistercian priory, erected as a royal abbey in 1688. The first nuns from his family lived there until its closure in 1778, after a gradual decline in the 18th century. The buildings, sold as national property in 1791, were bought by a descendant of the Menou and then converted into private dwellings.

The original estate, composed of two fiefs gathered in 1662, included a seigneurial house of the fifteenth century, flanked by towers and surrounded by moat today filled. In the 17th century, a 50-metre convent building was added to house the nuns, while the seigneurial chapel served as the abbey church. The pulpit of the abbesses, classified as a historical monument in 1992, was transferred to the church of Genillé after the dissolution of the abbey.

The abbey had several outbuildings, including estates acquired between 1682 and 1736, such as the Coudray or the Puchère in Genillé. Its management was marked by financial difficulties in the 18th century, leading to its abolition in 1770 and its sale as a national good. The facades and roofs of the seigneurial house were listed as historical monuments in 1951.

The transmission of the load of abbess was carried out within the family of Menou, with figures like Claude de Menou, first Prioress, or Catherine II, abbess for more than twenty years. A plaque in the church of Genillé commemorates the foundation of the abbey, while the current buildings, partially redesigned, testify to its monastic and seigneurial past.

External links