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Origin and history

The abbey Notre-Dame de Josaphat, located in Lèves en Eure-et-Loir, was founded in 1117 by Geoffroy de Lèves, bishop of Chartres, and his brother Goslein, lord of Lèves, on their ancestral lands. According to a local tradition, Geoffroy was dispensed by Pope Pascal II from his vow of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, provided that the sum earmarked for the creation of a monastery was devoted. The name Jehoshaphat would thus evoke the Holy Valley of the Holy Land. The abbey, confirmed in 1119 by Pope Calixte II and King Louis VI, became a burial place for several bishops of Chartres, including Geoffroy himself in 1149.

In the 12th century, the abbey experienced conflicts, like that between its monks and Milon de Lèves in 1156 concerning the mills on the banks of the Eure, solved by the intervention of Bishop Robert. The 1905 excavations, led by Abbé Charles Meté, revealed tombs of the 12th and 13th centuries, including those of Jean de Salisbury (Bishop of Chartres, †1180) and Lucia de Lèves, as well as objects today preserved at the lapidary museum of Notre-Dame de Coulombs Abbey. These remains, classified as Historic Monuments in 1914-1915, bear witness to the funeral and religious importance of the site.

The abbey suffered major destruction: burned by the English in 1432 and 1466, looted by the Calvinists in 1564, and partially restored in the seventeenth century by the Congregation of Saint Maur. At the time of the Revolution, it was partially demolished (1792), and its ruins integrated into a hospital facility in the 19th century. Remaining remains include the sarcophagus of John of Salisbury, the pillars of the walk-through, and the elements of the 15th-century cloister, inscribed in 1928. The site, traversed by Via Turonensis (path of Compostela), also housed a source renowned for its therapeutic virtues.

The abbey had a vast land heritage, including priories (such as Saint-Epain in Ablis), churches (Saint-Arnoult-des-Bois, Chalo-Saint-Mars), lands in the Perche, and mills. His abbots, regular and then comndataires from 1472, included figures such as Thomas de Meulan (abbé in the 14th century) or Jean-Joseph de Fogasses (XVIII century). The list of bishops buried in Josaphat — including Renaud de Bar (†1217) — underscores his central role in the religious history of Chartres.

Today, the ruins of the abbey, located within the walls of the Foundation of Aligre and Marie-Thérèse, are partially accessible. The nearby lapidary museum exhibits artifacts discovered during excavations, while the reconstructed cloister houses these collections. Despite the destruction, the site remains a major testimony of medieval monastic architecture in the Centre-Val de Loire.

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