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Origin and history

The Abbey of Valloires, founded in 1138 by Guy II of Ponthieu, is the 12th daughter of the Abbey of Cîteaux. The Cistercian monks settled permanently in 1158 in the valley of Authia. At its peak in the 12th and 13th centuries, it welcomed a hundred monks and became the necropolis of the Counts of Ponthieu. A first ogival abbey was built in 1226, but wars (Cent Years, looting of the 15th-17th centuries) left it in ruins.

In the 18th century, the abbey was entirely rebuilt under the direction of dom Comeau and the bishop of Amiens, Bishop of Orléans de La Motte. The works, led by architect Raoul Coignard, were completed around 1730. The 13th century abbey collapsed in 1738, replaced by a new consecrated church in 1756. Its rocky interior, carved by Simon Pfaff, and its ironwork grilles by Jean-Baptiste Veyren make it a Baroque masterpiece. The organ, installed between 1750 and 1756, is still in place.

The Revolution transformed the abbey into a national good in 1790. Repurchased by Ambroise-Leopold Jourdain de l'Eloge, it escapes destruction. In the 19th century, it housed successively the Basilians (factors of organ), the religious of Saint Vincent de Paul (an orphanage), and then became a Belgian military hospital during the First World War. In 1922, Thérèse Papillon founded a preventorium for children, active until 1974. Today, the abbey, owned by an association, welcomes visitors and social works.

Ranked a historical monument in 1907, the abbey retains remarkable elements: the gissants of Simon de Dammartin and Marie de Ponthieu (14th century), paintings by Joseph-François Parrocel, and a pear tree planted in 1756, which died in 2022. The gardens, furnished by Gilles Clément in 1989, and the night show Valloires l'abbey Lumière (since 2021) attract tourists. The ensemble illustrates the evolution of a Cistercian site, from the Middle Ages to the present.

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