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Origin and history

The crypt of Bourgmoyen is the last vestige of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Blois, founded in the 7th or 11th century on the site of a Merovingian monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Romanesque building, attested in 1105, was originally home to secular canons, replaced in 1122 by regular canons of the order of Saint Augustine. The crypt, originally semi-entered, was integrated into a Latin cross-shaped church with a bell tower and a cradle vault of ten metres high. Its sober architecture, marked by thick walls and narrow openings, reflects the constructive techniques of the year thousand.

In the 12th century, the abbey was rebuilt in Gothic style while retaining the crypt, which became underground. Fortified in the 14th century with a crenellated wall and towers, it suffered partial destruction during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, reconstruction projects remained unfinished before the dissolution of the Abbey in 1790. The crypt, rediscovered in 1943 after the bombings of 1940, reveals a rectangular flat bedside plan, divided into two vaulted vessels. Its alveolate masonries and large jointed stones, combined with tiles, confirm its dating around the year thousand.

Ranked a historic monument in 1945, the crypt is today the only visible testimony of the abbey, whose buildings were demolished in 1806 to build Louis XII Square. The remains, located under the former Augustin-Thierry College (destroyed in 1940), include a massive altar, stone benches and a liturgical pool. The site, now covered by an underground parking lot, preserves a commemorative plaque and the rue du Bourg-Moyen, the last tributes to this medieval heritage.

The abbey of Bourgmoyen had a historical rivalry with other religious communities in Blois, such as the abbey of Saint-Laumer, more favoured by the Counts and kings. This competition ceased with the Revolution, when the goods of the clergy were seized and buildings destroyed or reassigned. The crypt, spared by demolitions, offers a rare example of pre-Roman architecture in the Loire Valley, marked by Carolingian influences and a function both religious and defensive.

The excavations of 1943 revealed liturgical elements such as relic closets and carved columns, bearing witness to the abbey's artistic richness. The lantern tower, later replaced by a frame arrow, once illuminated the choir, while the gardens and cemetery were protected by a fortified enclosure. Today, the crypt, owned by the municipality, remains closed to the public, preserving an unknown fragment of the heritage of the city.

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