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Origin and history

The abbey of Valbonne, originally called Notre-Dame, was founded in the early 13th century by monks of the order of Chalais from the abbey of Prads (diocese of Digne). In 1199 the bishop of Antibes, Olivier, authorized their abbot William to build a church in the valley of the Brague, a site called Vallisbona. This strategic choice near the Mediterranean allowed the monks to bring down their herds in winter, a common practice for mountain abbeys of order. The donations came in 1219, enriching the abbey's heritage in Valbonne and in neighbouring villages (Mouans-Sartoux, Gourdon, Opio, etc.).

The church, probably built between 1199 and 1230, is mentioned in acts of 1230 (great altar of Notre-Dame) and 1240 (ante ecclesiam Sancte Marie Vallisbone). As early as 1246, conflicts with Sartoux's coseigneur Vidauban forced Father Pons to sell goods and resign. His successors, such as Abbé Jacques (1246-1248) or Maurin (tabled in 1285), failed to redress the financial situation. In 1297, Abbé Bernard Conort offered Valbonne to the abbey of St Andrew's in Avignon, but the bishop of Grasse opposed it. In 1304, an alliance with the abbey of Lérins made Valbonne a priory dependent until its secularization in 1788.

In the 15th century, the ravages of the armed bands emptied the abbey of its monks, reduced to two religious and a prior according to the statutes of 1353. The church, ruined, served as a parish church from the 16th century. Major repairs took place in the 17th and 19th centuries, including the addition of a bell tower in the 19th century. In the 20th century, restorations (1969-1975) saved the convent buildings, now dedicated to a local museum (Le Vieux Valbonne). Since 1984, the Abbey has been listed as a historical monument. In 2022, the municipality called for donations to restore its gardens and courtyards, in a rehabilitation project respectful of its medieval heritage.

Valbonne's architecture reflects Chalaisian art, close to the primitive Cistercian. The Romanesque church, the Holy Spirit Hall (exhibitions) and the convent buildings (sleeping of monks) house collections on rural life and order history. Chapels and oratories complete this religious ensemble, witness to the transhumances of Provence and the struggles of power between abbeys (Lérins, Saint-André).

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