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Origin and history

The Abbey of Canadel finds its origins in a priory founded in the fifth century near the Wolf, linked to St.Veran, bishop of Vence. According to legend, Veran would have convinced the wisigoth king Euric to spare the city after a miracle involving a flowered sword. A memorial chapel was built, followed by a monastery by the monks of Lérins. The abbey, looted by the Saracens in 730, was restored under Charlemagne and then destroyed in the ninth century. After the expulsion of the Saracens in 993, it was rebuilt with the help of Saint-Eusebius Abbey in Apt.

In the 11th century, the Priory of Notre-Dame du Canadel was founded thanks to a donation by Pierre and Hermangarde in 1012 (or 1016) to the Abbey of Saint-Veran. The chapel, enlarged in the 12th and 13th centuries, includes a cloister and a mâchicoulis tower. In 1512 Bishop Jean-Baptiste Bonjean stayed there before entering Vence. In 1569, the family of Villeneuve acquired the Canadel, keeping the chapel active until the Revolution, where the building was seized and sold.

In the 20th century, the remains became an inn in 1937, then a hotel-restaurant since 1997. The cloister and chapel, classified as historical monuments in 1927, bear witness to its religious past. The abbey illustrates the links between Provençal monasticism, medieval invasions and local nobility, before its transformation into a contemporary accommodation.

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