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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Church of Notre-Dame de Fontaine-le-Comte, founded in the 12th century, is an ancient Cistercian abbey classified as a historical monument from the first list of 1840. Located on the side of the hillside, it offers a clear bedside overlooking a valley, with a renovated façade in the 13th century mixing Romanesque door and obstructed Gothic window. Its plan includes a unique nave of 53 m, an absidiole transept, and a choir illuminated by seven windows, exception for a Cistercian abbey.

The nave, built by a single jet after 1136, has a marked sobriety: vault destroyed during the Hundred Years' War, replaced by a ceiling in 1790, then by a wooden frame in 1988-1989. Coline Fabre's abstract stained glass windows (1995-1999) highlight this simplicity. The transept, typical of the Poitou, allows access to the convent buildings, of which remains remains such as the capitular hall (current sacristy) or the refectory.

Most of the furniture dates from the 18th century, a period of repair by the Genovéfains. The rock stalls (1720), the sacristy buffet (1700-1725), and a 17th century tabernacle illustrate this heritage. Among the remarkable elements are a polychrome wooden Child Virgin and a pulpit to preach decorated with the symbols of the four Evangelists. The abbey, a communal property, bears witness to the Cistercian influence in New Aquitaine.

The exterior reveals flat buttresses shouldering the absidioles and the absidioles, while a breeche carries the shield of Abbé François Ardillon. The cloister, partially preserved, organized the monastic life around the abbatial home and the infirmary. The destruction of the medieval vault and successive reconstructions reflect historical tumults, from the wars of Religion to the Revolution.

Classified for its architecture and furniture, the church embodies the transition between Romanesque and Gothic. Its history is linked to Geoffroy de Loriol, founder of Bordeaux in 1136, and to the Cistercian community that shaped this place of prayer and collective life. Today, it remains a major testimony of the Poitevin religious heritage.

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