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Origin and history

Saint-Loup de Troyes Abbey was founded in the ninth century to house the relics of Saint Loup, bishop of Troyes and legendary defender of the city against Attila in the fifth century. Originally built outside the walls, it was destroyed by the Vikings in 887 and rebuilt inside the city in 891 under the impulse of Adalelme de Troyes. The relics were transferred there, and the original site became the Saint-Martin-es-Aires Abbey.

In 1135 Bernard de Clairvaux reformed the community, which adopted the rule of St Augustine. The abbey, now intramural, developed a renowned library and scriptorium, perhaps welcoming the Christian poet of Troyes. In the 15th century, a flamboyant Gothic church was built, inaugurated in 1425. The lords of Chappes, lay abbots until 1118, gave the monks the right to elect their abbot.

The buildings, largely rebuilt in the seventeenth century, were destroyed during the French Revolution, with the exception of a convent building. The latter, located on Rue Chrétien-de-Troyes, will later house the municipal library and the Musée Saint-Loup (since 1830), preserving medieval works, the treasure of Pouan, and confiscated manuscripts, including those of Clairvaux. Ranked a historic monument in 1963, it still bears witness to this prestigious past.

The abbey was linked to major figures: Charlemagne, who placed it under the direction of Alcuin, and Hugues I of Champagne, who supported the canon reform. Its portal, registered in 2015, and its collections (sculptures of Girardon, Roman antiques) make it a key site of the Troyan heritage.

Its initial location, near Via Agrippa (present-day rue de la Cité), reflects its anchoring in the Gallo-Roman and medieval history of Troyes. Intramural reconstruction in 891 marked its integration into the expanding city, while its revolutionary destruction almost completely erased its architectural heritage, except for the current museum building.

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