Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Abbey of Saint-Ferme, founded in the 6th century by a Benedictine community, was rebuilt in the 11th and 13th centuries to accommodate the pilgrims of Compostela. Initially a fortified monastery, it became a place of reception and care under the supervision of the Bishop of Bazas and the Abbey of Saint-Florent of Saumur. The monks lived there until their expulsion in 1080, replaced by disciples of Saint Maur, who built the current abbey.

During the Hundred Years' War (14th century), the abbey was fortified: dug moat, walled windows or turned into murderers, and gallery of the cloister removed. The buildings, constantly modified until the 19th century, are organised around a paved courtyard. The capitular room, the abbey's home and the dorm occupied the east, south and west wings respectively. The abbey then had 7 priories, 8 mills, and land spread over 6 parishes.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the wars of Religion marked the abbey deeply. The claustral buildings were adapted for defensive purposes: the entrance was fortified by foothills supporting an assumption, and the large rosace mourée. The bedside was redesigned, as was the court room, which was housed in an old hostellerie. After 1453, the abbots introduced elements of comfort, like a monumental 16th century fireplace, now visible in the old scriptorium.

In the 18th century, under the trade abbey, the abbey declined. The monks finally left the place before the Revolution, giving the abbey to the parish and the buildings to the commune. They therefore housed a school, a town hall, and today a museum on monastic life. The abbey, listed as a historic monument since 1886, and the convent buildings, registered in 1990, bear witness to this rich past.

The abbey church, begun in the 12th century, presents a Latin cross plan with a unique nave and a three-absid tangential bedside, decorated with 30 capitals, including 18 historical buildings. The cross of the transept, covered with a vault on yousures carved in the Saintongeese style, is one of the first examples of this type in Aquitaine. The bell tower, used as a dungeon during the Hundred Years War, dominates the whole.

The novel capitals of the abbey illustrate biblical and moralizing scenes, such as Daniel in the lion pit or David and Goliath. These sculptures, of exceptional quality, reflect the regional artistic influence. The abbey, located on a pilgrimage route, also played a legal and social role, with a court room decorated with an allegory of justice, recalling the considerable powers of the abbot, both local lord and representative of the royal justice.

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