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Origin and history

The abbey of Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu is founded in the ninth century by Benedictine monks led by Abbé Arnoul, on the Domaine de Déas (present-day commune of Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu). Authorized by Louis I, son of Charlemagne, its construction meets the need to protect the relics of Saint Philibert, transferred from Noirmoutier in 836 to escape Viking raids. The Abbey, in the Carolingian style, was burned in 847 by the Normans, but the monks saved the saint's shawl before fleeing to Turnus in Burgundy, leaving behind them a murated crypt.

In the 11th century, a priory dependent on Tournus was restored to the site, and the parish adopted the name of Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu. The Abbey, damaged during the wars of Religion (clocher and choir destroyed), became parishioner in the seventeenth century. Sold as a national property in 1791 during the Revolution, it served as a military hangar during the Vendée wars. In the 19th century, transformed into a covered market, its walls were lowered by 3 meters before its restoration between 1898 and 1904, after the rediscovery of the sarcophagus of Saint Philibert in 1865.

Classified as a historical monument in 1896, the abbey was reassigned to worship in 1936. His stained glass windows, created by Jacques Grüber, evoke the history of the saint and monks. The site, open to visitors, preserves Carolingian architectural elements (define with cruciform pillars, primitive strolling) and novels (reinforced arches). The crypt, semi-entered, still houses the merovingian sarcophagus of Saint Philibert, carved in a block of blue granite of the Pyrenees. Around the Abbey a priory of the eighteenth century (now tourist office) and a restored medieval garden remain.

The excavations also revealed funerary monuments, such as the Guntarius slab (IX-X centuries) or the tombstone of Guillaume Chupin (1440), as well as the 12th century bentiers. The Abbey, a place of pilgrimage and celebrations (the feast of the Holy Philibert), illustrates the evolution of a monastic site between the early Middle Ages and the contemporary era, marked by conflicts, reconstructions and reallocations.

The furniture includes statues (saint Philibert, Virgin of the Child), a painting of the Deplore of Christ (damaged during the Revolution), and baptismal fonts with double vats, testimonies of his parish function. The sink, originally intended for pilgrims, and a Carolingian key discovered in the crypt complete this heritage. Today, the monument combines cultural visits, exhibitions and religious offices, attracting about 9,000 visitors annually.

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