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Origin and history

The barn at Berthenay's Monks is a monastic barn built at the end of the 13th century, as evidenced by the dating of its chestnut frame, whose woods were cut down in 1298. Located in the municipality of Berthenay, in Indre-et-Loire, it originally belonged to one of the abbeys of Tours, probably linked to the abbey of Saint-Julien or the chapter of Saint-Martin, which had estates in the Cher valley. The building, designed to store agricultural commodities, was strategically located near the confluence of the Loire and Cher, allowing river transport to Tours.

The barn is built on an artificial eminence of 2 meters high, an ingenious solution to protect it from frequent flooding in this swampy area. Its architecture, typical of the monastic barns of the period, includes a farm structure based on a portico, a model appeared in Anjou from the twelfth century. The west gate, initially in the middle of the hangar, was replaced after World War II by a rectangular opening. The gable croupes, once open for ventilation, are now closed.

Ranked a historic monument in 2003 for the barn and in 2025 for its terrace, the barn at Les Moines is now owned by Tours Métropole Val de Loire. A 2024 report, however, reports a state of degradation due to a lack of maintenance, prompting the community to consider restoration work. The site, mentioned from the Cassini map under the name Grange-aux-Moines, remains a rare testimony of medieval agricultural architecture, despite the current risks of termites and erosion.

The first written mention related to Berthenay dates back to 1134, when a pontifical bubble of Celestin II confirmed that the local cure belonged to Saint-Julien Abbey of Tours. This document attests to the religious and economic importance of the region, where the Tourangelle abbeys had many fields. The barn, built almost a century and a half later, is part of this monastic network, probably serving as a place for collecting and distributing agricultural resources to urban centres like Tours.

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